Slade: Revenge of the Scath
by Red Eyes Black Dragon Master
Summary: Sequel to Slade: Last of the Masked. Although it has been a full year since Trigon fell, I still have this longing in life. Now that the Titans have returned from fighting the Brotherhood of Evil, the time has come for me, Slade to return. Updated.
1. Introduction

Slade: Revenge of the Scath

**Introduction:**

I stood at the express check out counter at the grocery store. I had been standing in line for quite some time because the old woman in front of me (who had to be living proof of the dinosaurs existence) didn't read the sign and had 80 or so items in a 10 items or less lane.

My black hair hung down over my black sunglasses. I wore the sunglasses to hide the nasty scar on my right eye. I could no longer see out that eye, not since I was 16 when a knife blade tore the optic nerve apart. Despite that I lost my eye, I am still good at what I do. I was once a great warrior of a long forgotten society, the Masked.

The Masked all were trained in many forms of martial arts, perfect strategists, and excellent at stealth. Weapons were no strangers to the Masked, except for firearms. The Masked never used guns. I would guess that's because when the first guns were built, they made it so difficult to reload and carry around that no one could be stealthy when using them. Besides, with the amount of power that we obtain on our own there is no need for guns.

The Masked are all gone, the only one left alive is me. Slade, last of the Masked. The name Slade is quite well known in Jump City, and not in a good way. He was, I was, a crafty dark villain who wanted only to eliminate the Teen Titans. My trademark was the wicked shaped "S" and the orange and black mask.

But that is not me anymore, my days as a Masked ended with the defeat of the inter-dimensional demon named Trigon. Now that he's gone, I can live the normal life I never knew. Which included going grocery shopping.

"Sir," the cashier said.

My mind returned to this place and time. I set my one item on the conveyer belt. The cashier swiped it over the scanner and the price appeared on the little screen. $5.99. _It costs that much for a_ _bottle of soda? _I thought. I reached into my jeans pocket for my wallet and my fingers ran across something metal, cold, and with a chain. I felt a tingle of remembrance as I pulled my wallet out. I placed $6 dollars on the counter and left with my drink, without my $0.01 change.

I walked out the store and climbed into my car. Once inside I pulled the thing out of my pocket. A gold heart shaped locket. My name was engraved on one side and the name "Arella" was engraved on the other. I opened it and saw the young faces of the girl, Arella and myself at her junior prom.

The pictures had been taken by none other that the person I hated the most, Marth. Not long after he took these pictures he betrayed me and cause Arella the greatest pain she could imagine.

Marth is dead now. I don't have to worry about him anymore. But Arella, I don't know what happened to her. I wish that some day, I would be able to find her.

I put the locket back in my pocket and slowly backed out of the parking lot. As I drove away, I say something appear walking out of the brick wall of a nearby building. It seemed to have merged with the bricks. It had a black and gray face with almost mechanical red eyes. I only saw it in a flash and then it was gone, but I saw something. What was it? Some mutated creature? No, my instincts told me other wise. IT was something horrible, something evil. Whatever IT was.


	2. Terra's Return

**Terra's Return**

I returned from the store to my home. Yes, I have a real home. Sort of. It is a small trailer I bought off a guy desperate to get drugs and willing to sell anything. I was able to move all my equipment to this small place including my computer equipment.

I walked into my trailer room and booted up the computer. As soon as it was done, I accessed the link to all the city's security cameras. Although I no longer was in the evil bad guy business, I could still hack into almost any system. The security cam's are easy. I gained control of the camera outside the grocery store and zoomed in toward the brick wall, but something more interesting caught my attention.

I saw the Teen Titans walking along the sidewalk. Raven, The half-demon daughter of Arella and Trigon; Starfire, Tameranian princess; Beast Boy, green-skinned shape shifter and former Doom Patrol member; Cyborg, half-human half-machine; and Robin, team leader and my once apprentice.

"Our city is the greatest city ever." Beast Boy said.

"Paris was pretty great, don't you think?" Cyborg asked.

Raven turned to him, "Paris?"

"Well, once we made those Brotherhood of Evil freezicyicles." Cyborg added.

"I've got to agree with Beast Boy," Robin commented, "it's finally good to be back home."

"I, too, have missed our glorious city." Starfire giggled in her usual happy voice. "I cannot wait to rent the videos and feast on the worms of sour gummieness." She floated above the other Titans and flew toward the video store, until she saw the store itself. "Huh, the worms are gone." For the past few months, the video store had been boarded up and closed, no longer in use.

Starfire looked down at her feet sorrowfully. Beast boy raced up to her side. "Come on, Star. Malline's candy store is just around the corner." he said. He grabbed her hand and pulled her around the side of the building. "They've got the best peanut butter squares in town. AHHH!" He screamed. "My peanut butter squares are gone!" The entire building had been torn down and replaced. The new building that was being built in its place was the same place I had seen the strange creature. I just had to wait and hope that I could see it again.

"The whole block is gone." Cyborg said as he, Robin, and Raven turned the corner to join Beast Boy and Starfire. "They're building a new office complex."

"Things sure have changed." Robin remarked. "Guess we've been away longer then we thought."

"Where am I going to buy all my books?" Raven asked.

"I don't remember any book store." Beast Boy commented.

"That's because you never bought a book." Raven shot back.

"And the auto parts shop that was next to the book store is gone, too." Cyborg added.

"I remember there used to be a toy shop. Or was it a barber shop? I distinctly remember some sort of shop." Beast Boy said.

"That narrows it down." Raven groaned.

Starfire floated up into the air and levitated toward the brick wall. "And I remember A.J.'s music store was over there." Starfire pointed.

On the wall behind her, two red eyes slowly opened. The creature emerged from the wall and the brick pattern slid off its body. the creature's body was white and humanoid in shape, but over eight feet tall and very muscular. It had the same gray and black diamond shaped face that I saw. It towered over Starfire.

"I definitely don't remember that being there." Cyborg said in fear.

The creature swung a fist at Starfire. She dodged and the creature's hand pounded into the ground. "Titans, GO!" Robin cried and the Teen Titans raced into combat.

The creature swatted at Starfire a few time, each time missing it's mark. It slammed both its hands into the ground. Robin raced for the thing and drove a powerful kick to the creature's chest. It grabbed Robins foot and pushed Robin to the ground, then it lifted robin and threw him into the air where he collided with Starfire.

Beast Boy quickly morphed a velociraptor and tackled the creature. They tumbled together, slashing a clawing at each other. The creature slammed its fist into Beast Boy's face and the dinosaur sailed through the air. He crashed into a street lamp where he demorphed back to human. As Beast Boy tried to get to his feet, a chunk of derbies flew from the battle and crashed in the street near a crowd of people.

I took a glance at the crowd, then turned back when I saw the person. A girl with a slim figure, blonde hair, blue eyes, and a delicate round face I recognized all to well. The face of one of my former apprentices. Beast Boy saw her too. "Terra?"


	3. In Search of Terra

**In Search of Terra**

"Terra!" I yelled. I jumped up from my seat and looked hard at the screen. I paused the camera and took as close a look as I could get. It was Terra all right. At least, the girl had Terra's face.

I started the camera filming again, but Terra was gone. Beast Boy got up, looking longingly at the place where Terra had been standing then ran back to join the other Titans in their fight.

Cyborg slammed his mechanical fists again and again into the face of the creature. It fell into a pile of steel beam lying on the ground. The creature grabbed one and its entire body turned the same color as steel. It swung the beam and knocked Cyborg clear into the nearest building.

My mind quickly processed that the creature could take on the physical characteristics of whatever it was touching. Becoming steel or bricks. Because it could do that, it was almost invincible. I disconnected my control of the security camera and rewound the footage to the clearest picture of Terra.

"Okay," I muttered to myself. "If Terra really is back, then a girl her age has to be going to some high school." I said. With Terra's picture from the street on one side of my computer screen, I hacked into the database of all the high schools in the city. I took all of this years most recent school pictures and their respective names next to the large picture of Terra. Five small screens next to one large one. I started scrolling through the images to see if any of the schools had someone who looked like Terra enrolled. Four of the five came up with large red crosses in the center to show that she wasn't there, but the fifth came up with Terra's posing but still smiling picture. The school was Murakami high school.

I accessed the school's main site and found Terra. However, it said her name was Ashley. It did however give me a home address. E. Westchester St., apartment 32B. A good enough place for me to find her, and not to far from where I live. I got up, grabbed my sunglasses, the Terra Beast Boy pictures I got at the carnival, a tablet of paper, and a pen.

Before I left, I grabbed a small oval shaped device. I pressed the "on" button and six mechanical legs grew out from the side. It looked up at me and my face appeared on the computer screen. I punched in the coorardinance of Terra's cave and set the camera down. It scurried away.

I walked from my trailer to the apartment building Terra lived in. I walked up to the door and knocked slightly. A fat, balding man answered the door. "What do you want?" He asked sternly.

"I am from the _Jump City Times_…." I said.

"We aren't buying it." He said, and tried to close the door on me. I placed one hand on the door and he couldn't push it closed anymore, no matter how hard he tried.

"I'm not selling. I just want to ask a few questions." I said.

"Fine." He mumbled. "How does a reporter get a body like that?" He asked.

"You'd be surprised." I answered. I took the pictures of Terra and Beast boy from my pocket and showed them to him. "I'm looking for this girl."

"That looks like Ashley. What did she do?" He asked.

"Nothing. I just need to talk to her." I said.

"Okay." He said to me. He looked back into the apartment, "Ashley, some reporter is here to see you."

"Whatever it is, I didn't do it!" She yelled back.

"You're not in trouble, just get out here." The man yelled.

Ashley/Terra came to the door and stood in front of me. It was defiantly Terra; I will never forget the face of the one who killed me. "What do you want?" She asked.

"I'm looking for a girl named Terra," I said, holding out the pictures, "have you seen her?"

She looked at the pictures, and then said, "This looks like me! Who is Terra?"

"Terra was once a member of the Teen Titans, until she disappeared some years ago. I'm trying to find her." I said.

"Sorry, can't help. I hope you find her." She said.

"Thanks for your cooperation." I said then walked away.

As I walked back to my trailer, I thought. If this was Terra, why was she hiding? How come she didn't return to the Titans? Why would she not remember taking a picture of herself? How come she didn't recognize Beast Boy?

Unless….her memory was lost when she was freed, or maybe she just didn't want to remember because it was too painful. Of coarse the question rose, how did she get free from her statue prison? Many things I don't yet know.


	4. Beast Boy's Broken Heart

**Beast Boy's Broken Heart**

I returned to my trailer and closed the door sharply. The tiny crawling camera I sent out had returned. I picked up the tiny robot and set it next to the computer. I took a cable from the computer and hooked it up to the robot. A window appeared and it showed the inside of the trailer. I rewound the recording until it came to the inside of Terra's cave. I then let it run.

The light from a flashlight came around the end of the cave. Beast Boy held the flashlight, shining it around the cave. "Hey, Terra. It's me, Beast Boy." He called into the darkness. "Sorry I haven't been here in a while. Uhhh, how's it going?" A stupid question. If her statue were still there, she wouldn't be doing so well. Plus it was doughtful she could hear him. But talking to her, even if she was dead, would help him overcome the grief. He kept talking to the empty space, "You're gonna think this is crazy and all, but I thought I saw you today. Guess it wasn't you cause you're still a statue and all." His flashlight shown in the place her statue was supposed to stand. The base was still there, and her plack (which read, "Terra: A Teen Titan, A True Friend"), and a few scattered dried out roses. But the statue itself was gone. Beast Boy gasped, and dropped the flashlight. "You're not still a statue, YOU'RE ALIVE!"

He raced back out of the cave. I disconnected the camera from the computer. So, Terra really has returned. But how? That question still bothered me. I had never found a way to revive Terra from her stone prison and obviously neither had the Titans. Perhaps some unforeseen event had brought her out of her casing; maybe her own powers, which had trapped her, released her. However doughtful that was.

I learned that the Titans reaction to the fact that Terra had returned alive was much the same as Beast Boy's and mine. But the strange creature was the main worry for Robin, Starfire, Cyborg, and Raven.

While Beast Boy tried to do what I already had accomplished and find Terra, the other Titans continued on their hunt for the creature. But Cyborg's sensors couldn't find it and Raven's powers couldn't sense it. I came to the conclusion that Beast Boy's powers would also be unable to expose this thing. Somehow, it couldn't be found. Also, they wondered how Terra could've returned from the dead, especially after Cyborg's chemical analysis and Raven's spells failed.

I turned my attention away from those Titans and back to Beast Boy. He had finally found Terra and was trying to get her to remember something about her past as a Teen Titan, but nothing helped. Her favorite pizza topping, Titans Tower, her room, rock skipping, even the second heart shaped mirror box Beast Boy made for her. Nothing worked.

The Titans never expected that I would have cameras hidden on their own island, but they could never find them. The cameras were disguised as rocks and any rock could be a camera.

Beast Boy took Terra to the beach of Titans tower island and offered a small stone to her. She looked down drearily, "Beast Boy." She said

"Come on, you've got to remember. Something, anything!" He pleaded. Terra simply shook her head. Beast Boy dropped the stone and looked solemnly down at the mud around his feet. An idea came to Beast Boy. He reached down and grabbed a glob of mud. "You can move the earth." He said. He reeled back and threw the mud in Terra's face.

I was certain that Terra would've tried to stop the mud, but instead it just splattered on her face. Beast Boy freaked out and Terra glared at him. "Why did you do that?" She cried and ran off. Beast Boy raced after her, but to no avail.

I could see now that Terra was choosing to forget, because she didn't want to remember. She was probably ashamed by what she had done and didn't want to face the Titans about it.

I couldn't say I blamed her. I felt pretty much the same way after Trigon's defeat. But Beast Boy wasn't going to leave her alone about it unless someone told him to.

I would have to tell him. I, Slade, arch enemy of the Teen Titans and the one who indirectly caused Terra and Beast Boy their pain would have to tell Beast Boy that Terra wasn't interested in him anymore. I sent a fake in my place. I controlled it through neural interceptors placed on my skin and saw what it saw with a special helmet that covered my eyes. I sent it to the most likely place for Beast Boy to go, the old abandoned amusement park, and hid it in the "House of Mirrors" where I told him Terra was my apprentice almost two years ago.

I didn't have to wait too long for Beast Boy to arrive. I heard his voice as he came down the halls. "How could she have forgotten everything?" he asked himself. He walked into the main circle of mirrors and stopped. "There must be something I can say to help her remember."

"Maybe she doesn't want to remember." I said. I stepped out of the shadows and my image appeared in each badly cracked mirror.

"Slade!" Beast Boy said with anger. "I should've realized you were behind this. Why did you bring Terra Back?"

"I had nothing to do with her return." I replied.

"You did something to take away her memory, and you took away her powers!" Beast Boy yelled.

"I did nothing, dear boy." I said. "If the girl does not remember or does not use her powers, it is because she chooses so."

"Why wouldn't Terra want to remember?" He demanded. "She was a hero, she had friends, she saved all of us."

"Don't you see?" I asked. "She no longer wants to remember you."

Beast Boy was outraged. He quickly morphed from animal to animal, starting with a bull and then to a bear, smashing the mirrors with horns and claws. The shard of glass scattered around the floor. He morphed back to human and gasped for air.

I took the advantage to attack. I jumped down from my hiding place in the ceiling and slammed my fist down at Beast Boy. Just as my fist was about to hit him, he jumped forward and my fist smashed into the ground. "I won't let you hurt her again!" Beast Boy cried.

"You're the one who's hurting her. Let her go." I said.

Beast Boy didn't take lightly. He morphed a gorilla and swung his two powerful fists, each the size of a cinderblock, down at me. I leapt above his head and landed behind him. The ape swung at me again, but I blocked it with my right arm and struck the ape in the face with me left fist. Beast Boy staggered back and I spun in the air, slamming the heel of my foot against his face. I jumped and kicked both legs into his chest, sending his crashing through the wall.

Beast Boy reamerged from the ruble in a velociraptor morph and clamped his jaws over my arm. He dragged me across the room and smashed down another wall. He demorphed back to human and I escaped from his grasp.

The dust cleared and I found myself in a dark underground cave. Beast Boy stumbled along the path. "Face it," I said, "she doesn't want to see you anymore."

"Leave Terra alone!" Beast Boy demanded. His eyes scanned the cave for any hint of my presents. In the darkness, I easily got passed his defences. I got behind him and delivered one crushing blow that sent him rollong back into the mirror room.

Beast Boy struggled to his feet, but I slammed my fists three times into face and grabbed him by the arm. I tossed him easily to the side.

He landed with a thud on his stomach, but wasn't down long. He morphed a tiger and leapt at me, cutting a deep slash in my shoulder plate. Now behind me, the tiger leapt again. But I grabbed the tiger's front legs and threw it to the ground. The tiger morphed into a grizzly bear and grabbed me by the shoulders. It shoved me back, pinning me against the wall, my helmat mask shattering yet another mirror.

I shoved the bear back with both legs. It fell hard on its back. I jumped high in the air and slammed my foot right at the bear's head. It morphed again and became a small humming bird.

The bird flew above me, then morphed again. This time, becoming an animal I could never hope to defeat. Tyrannosaurus rex. The T. rex lifted its head and roared an earth shaking roar. The rows of teeth came crashing down on me and smashed me against the ground. Then lifted me up and threw me threw the wall and out of the building. I had just got back on my feet by the time the dinosaur crashed threw the wall at full speed.

It closed its jaws hard over my legs and I cried out in pain. The tyrannosaur carried me in its mouth and smashed into the roller coster. The ride collapsed and covered both of us.

Beast Boy broke out of the ruble and morphed back to human. He saw my body crushed beneath the rocks and steel. He moved the rock covering my face and found that I wasn't really there, but it was just one of my robots. All it could say was the last phrase it had said. "She doesn't want to see you anymore." Was all it could say. "She doesn't want to see you anymore. She doesn't want to see you anymore."


	5. The Creature Speaks

**The Creature Speaks**

I removed the neural pads from my skin and the viewing helmet from my head. I left the warehouse that I house all my few robots and mechanical doubles. I walked down the street; the silence of late night surrounded me.

As I walked I felt a disturbing unease. Someone was near.

Slowly, I coiled my legs and leapt. The ground sped away from me and a large white arm swung at me from behind. I flipped in the air and landed feet first on my attacker. It was the creature. Diamond shaped head, red mechanical eyes, and pure white body.

I slammed into the creature and stepped back. The creature got back on its feet without a moments hesitation and swung another punch at my face. I evaded the attack and smashed the heel of my foot under its chin. The creature crashed into a row of trashcans and the aluminum melded with it.

It jumped at me and I slammed my fist into its face, but the metal only smashed my knuckles. It swung its arm in an arc and sent my cascading down the sidewalk into a street sign. I got up and tore the sign out of the ground. It came at me again and I smashed the steel pole against its head, the concrete on the end crumbled on impact.

The creature rolled across the ground until it crashed into a stonewall in a cloud of dust. As the dust settled, the creature was gone. My eye twisted around in its socket, searching. After a moment, I closed my eyes and relaxed. _Remember your training._ I thought. I reached out with my mind and all the things around me vanished. In my minds eye I saw the creature on the streetlight above me, ready to pounce.

My eye flashed open and I spun around, throwing the sign like a spear. It struck the creature and the creature fell, crashing to the ground. Slowly, the creature got up. "he he he. You haven't lost a step over the years have you?" It said.

"What?" I said.

"After so long and even after I got this new body, I'm still not strong enough to kill you." It said.

"Who are you?"

"You always ask that whenever we meet. I know you're not stupid, just think for a second." It said.

The answer suddenly came to me. But it was impossible, "You should be dead." I said.

"Technically, I am dead. Because you crushed me under a pile of ruble 17 years ago!" It yelled. Its body began to change shape again, but not to another material, but to another shape. The white layering peeled back from its hands to form sleeves. The head became a black hood. In fact, the entire white skin turned into a black robe. As the transformation subsided, it pushed back its hood to reveal the wavy red hear and green eyes of the person I hated the most.

"Marth. I would say nice to see you, but that would be a lie." I said. "What are you doing here, why are you alive?"

"I just told you, I'm dead." He said. "Feel for my heart beat."

Slowly, cautiously, I approached and placed my palm on his chest. He was right; there was no heartbeat. His body was cold. The cold of death.

He then grabbed my wrist and I suddenly felt weak. I became weaker and weaker. I gasped for breath and began to lose my footing. I fell to my knees but still he held my wrist.

My life energy! He was stealing my life energy. I could even feel the withered heart in his chest shudder as it tried to beat. I clenched my other hand into a fist and slammed Marth in the face as hard as I could. He summer salted back and collapsed. As soon as his hand left me, I felt strength return. My energy was restored.

I got back to my feet. Marth chuckled and slowly stood up. "Even after 17 years, I'm still not strong enough to defeat you." He said.

"I get it. That new body of yours is unstable. You need life energy to stabilize it. You must've gotten that body after Raven defeated Trigon and revived everyone on earth." I said.

"Sharp as ever. I need not just your life force, but also the life force of five other people. Only after I absorb the other five will I be strong enough to defeat you and take your life force." Marth said. He shrieked in pain and reverted to the form of the creature. He jumped back over the brick wall. I jumped after him, but he was nowhere in sight. Obviously using his newfound powers to conceal himself.

"I guess he does need that energy. Without it, he can't stay human for very long." I said. _The other people, who can they be?_ I thought. _The most obvious choice would be the Teen Titans._


	6. Team Up

**Team Up**

Marth was after the Teen Titans, I was sure of it. That's why he was always fighting them. And if he managed to take the life energy from them, then he might be strong enough to take it from me. I could not let this happen. I would have to find the Titans went they were fighting Marth and help them to defeat him.

The next morning after I woke up I went back to my storage units where I kept all my old robots and weapons. I opened the second one. Inside was a large gray file cabinet with a lock on the front. I used my keys to open the lock and I pulled out the drawer. Inside, nicely folded and well pressed, was my old Masked master uniform and mask.

"How I missed this." I whispered as I ran my fingers over the cold metal of my mask. I quickly donned the uniform, making sure all the armor was in the right place. I also added a few weapons. Knives. I find knives to be better than guns, more artful; they require greater skill to use than a firearm. I placed two knives in my belt, another two on my shoulders below the metal plating, two on my outer thighs, and two much larger blades on my back. The ones on my back are much more sickle shaped and curved than the others.

When fully armed, I left the storage unit and found my way to the construction site across the street from Terra's school. Given what I knew about Beast Boy's stubbornness, he probably wouldn't have listened to me when I told him to lay off. My suspicions where correct. He was there at Murakami High, wanting to talk to Terra. I knew Beast Boy would eventually have to join the other Titans in their battle against Marth, so all I would have to do was wait for him to go, and then follow. It, however, took longer than I expected.

After several hours of waiting, I finally saw Beast Boy emerge from the doors of Murakami High. He transformed into an eagle and started flying. As he started flying, I started following. I jumped from building to building, following the green eagle in the sky. We soon left the main city and came to a recycling plant just outside the city. I hide in the trees while Beast Boy landed. He morphed into a Tyrannosaurus rex and charged at the building.

The giant green dinosaur crashed through the wall and roared in anger. I lost sight of it after that. I went to the other side of the building and found a window high up toward the roof. I jumped up to this window and broke through it with minimal effort. Inside, I saw a giant t. rex fighting a creature made of melted steel. Beast Boy swung his tail at the creature, but only succeed in giving himself extreme burns on his tail. _That will never work. Not as long as he's melted metal. _I thought. I scanned the room with my eye, looking for what I wanted. I found it, hanging from the wall. A red cylinder. A fire extinguisher, right below me.

I jumped from the window to the floor, landing easily on my feet. I pulled the extinguisher from the wall and a twin-blade from my belt. "Hey, Marth!" I called. Marth and the Titans all turned their attention to me. It would be an understatement if I said they were surprised to see me. "You look steamed, why don't you chill." I threw the extinguisher at his as well as the twin blade after it.

Marth tried to jump away, but the twin-blade sliced the extinguisher and all the CO2 inside gushed out in one great flow, cooling Marth's liquid steel body into solid steel. He froze in his tracks, unable to move.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw a swift blur of movement from the Titans. I turned to face them and saw Robin, his bow-staff fully extended, right in front of me. He swung the bow-staff up with great force and banged me under the chin. I staggered back and Robin pinned the end of the staff against my neck. "Slade." He said with the usual hatred. "Why are you here?"

"It's nice to see you too, Robin. But I'm not here to fight you." I replied.

"Yeah, right." Beast Boy shouted. He had now returned to his human form. "Why should we believe you?!"

"Have I ever lied to you?" I said.

The expression softened on Robin's face as he thought. No, I have never lied to the Titans. Deceived, maybe, but never have I ever told a flat out lie. Robin's face hardened and he pressed the end of the staff harder against my throat. "Why should we trust you?" He said.

"Because we share a common enemy. I already know that you have had no avail in fighting it, so I've come here to help." I said.

"Why would we want your help? If we needed help, we could just call on all the honorary Titans." Robin said.

"But none of your other Titans know what your facing." I explained.

"And you do?" Raven asked, sharply.

"Actually, Raven, yes I do. I'll be happy to explain, but first you might want to turn around." I said.

Raven turned and saw the Creature, looming over her. Its gray steel body glistened. It reached with one huge hand and grabbed Raven by the head. She struggled, grabbing its arm and trying to pry it off, but the Creature held tight. She used her powers to lift a large metal beam; the beam shimmered with black energy. She threw the beam at the Creature, but the weak iron only bent against the Creature's solid steel body.

A white light emitted from Raven's body and began crawling up the Creature's arm. Raven became frail; her skin became wrinkled and sagged. Her purple hair started turning gray.

"Raven!" Robin cried. He released his hold on me and attacked the Creature. He threw punch after punch at the Creature's head, but the Creature didn't move. Not even a scratch was left. All the while, Raven continued to age.

I reached into my belt and pulled out a small attach bomb. I raced passed Robin and slapped the bomb on the Creature's head. As I ran passed, I pressed the detonation button on my wrist and the bomb exploded. The orange explosion sent a shockwave through the room and caused the Creature to release its grip on Raven. As Raven fell to the ground, her features softened and her youth returned. Robin caught her in his arms as she fell. Her eyes opened slowly and a small groan escaped her lips.

"What happened?" She asked.

"Marth just tried to steal away your life energy." I explained.

"Who's Marth?" Robin asked.

The Creature staggered around, a loud and piercing screech filled the room. Smoke still billowed from its face. It shed its metal form and began to change shape again. The white skin turned black and began to fold like cloth, taking the form of a large black robe. Two human hands appeared from the sleeves. The smoke cleared from the face and I saw his face again. The Mark of Scath glowed brightly on his forehead. The face of my enemy. "That was a dirty trick, Slade." He said.

"It's what I do." I admitted.

"I'll get you for that in a minute. First I'll kill the Gem." He said, turning to face the Titans.

I moved with lightning speed and placed myself between Marth and the Titans. "You'll have to get passed me, to get to them." I said.

"Very well. I was saving you for last, but if you insist." He spread his legs in a fighting stance and held up his hands. His hands became ablaze with flames. "As you can see, I've retained all of my old powers."

I crossed my arms across my chest and pulled the knives out from off my shoulders. I, too, took a fighting stance. Marth and I stood, facing each other. Waiting. He made the first move. He thrust his arm forward and a ball of fire shot at the ground by my feet. I leapt into the air and the flames dissipated as they hit the ground. I spun through the air and aimed a powerful kick at Marth's head, but as I neared, he grabbed my foot and used my own momentum to through me behind him. I crashed into the far wall, kicking up a cloud of dust.

"Is that all? I was expecting more. You've gotten weak, Slade." He said. "If that's it, I'll just take her life energy now."

I raced out of the dust cloud and sped toward him. He turned to face me, but it was too late. I slashed my blade across he back, leaving a long slice deep in his flesh. Blood oozed from the wound. "Aaahhh!" He screamed.

"I'm far from beaten!" I shouted. I spun on my feet and slammed my foot into his back, sending him cart wheeling into a stack of oil barrels. The barrels fell, unloading their vast quantities of black liquid all around him.

Marth stood up, his body weighted down with the gooey oil. He kicked one of the oil barrels at me, it rolled with alarming speed. I jumped over the approaching barrel, but even as I jumped, Marth fired a ball of fire at me. As the barrel passed, the fire struck me in the face, sending me spiraling backwards.

I landed with a thud on my side. Pain shot through my body. Marth walked over to where I lied. "You can't beat me, Slade. I'm already dead. I'm invincible." He held his fist right above my head, ablaze with flames. Suddenly, his body went into spasms, shacking and convulsing. "RrrrrAAAAHHHH!" he cried, his body changing shape back to the form of the Creature. He grabbed his face as he stepped back, his body continued to change shape.

I braced with my hands and delivered a powerful two-legged kick to his face, sending him sprawling to the ground. I got back on my feet and pulled the two sickle blades off my back. "You're not as invincible as you believe." I said.

"Nor are you." He said. He placed one hand on the cold concrete floor and his whole body became solid concrete. He charged at me, full speed. As he came close, I tried to jump over him, but he grabbed me by the foot and threw me back to the ground, hard. I slashed at his arm with my blades, but they barely left a scratch on his concrete body. "You can't beat me, Slade."

"Maybe he can't, but I can!" A voice said, the voice of a young girl. A voice I recognized. A large bolder flew in from behind me and smashed into Marth's body. I looked in the direction the bolder had come from and in the giant hole in the wall stood Terra, still in her school uniform. Her hand was held out in front of her, and glowing with light yellow energy.

"Terra!" Beast Boy cried.

"Terra?" Robin, Starfire, Cyborg, and Raven shouted all at once.

"Come on!" She said. She held her arms out and suddenly the ground beneath our feet began to rumble. A section of the floor broke beneath the Titans and floated up into the air. The same happened to me, and later to Terra. We left the recycling facility on Terra's floating rocks.

As we floated away, Beast Boy morphed an eagle and flew over to Terra's rock. He morphed back to human and wrapped his arms around her. "Terra, I'm so glad you're back."

"Thanks, Beast Boy, but I'm still not coming back." She replied.

"Why not?" Beast Boy asked.

"I don't want to be a Titan. I came back only to help you get away from that thing. After this, you'll have to forget that I was ever here."

"But, Terra…."

"Give it a rest, Beast Boy." I said. He turned back to look at me with hating eyes. "I already told you; she doesn't want to see you anymore. Any of you. She chose this."

"Shut up." Beast Boy shouted back.

"Oh, by the way, Slade," Terra said, "I've been wanting to do this for a long time." From below us, a rock suddenly shot up from the ground. It came and slammed into my head under the chin with a loud clank. From that moment, the world became suddenly turned black.


	7. Captive

**Captive**

My eye snapped open and I found myself suspended from a wall. My arms were held apart and metal bands were clasped to my writs. Another larger clasp was shackled over my ankles. Bolts of electricity shot between the bands and the emitters that were imbedded in the walls. I struggled against the bonds, but I could barely move my arms more than an inch in any direction.

When I looked around the room I was in I saw Robin, Starfire, Cyborg, Raven, Beast Boy and Terra all around me. "What is this for?" I asked.

"To make sure you won't escape. Now we have some questions for you." Robin demanded. "Who was that thing?"

"You want to know the truth, the whole truth? Well, to know about the Creature you must know about a lot more." I said. "Of coarse that doesn't mean I'll tell you." I smiled and laughed.

Robin grabbed me by the neck and started to squeeze. "Tell us!" He growled. With his other hand he grabbed my mask and tried to tare it away. My mask stayed tightly in place.

"That won't work, Robin. This mask is genetically sealed, only my DNA will unlock it. So only I can open it." I sighed. "I guess if you want to defeat the Creature, you need to know about him.

"His name is Marth, he was once a prophet of Trigon. You remember the flame powers Trigon gave me to serve him? Well, those powers are reserved only for what is called the Fire Scath, the chosen servant of Trigon.

"When you found the Scath hideaway, you thought that Scath was a secret name for Trigon. In fact, it is the name of the ancient cult that worshiped him. They followed his every command and once every 600 years a Fire Scath is chosen to bring Trigon his bride and protect the Gem until the time is right.

"But there was another secret society, one that fought the Scath and worked to prevent the Gem from becoming the portal. Their name was the Masked. I am the only Masked left alive."

"Yeah, like we'd believe that." Robin said, still holding me by the throat.

"You still keep forgetting that I don't lie." I said. "Anyways, including Raven there have been six Gems. I never learned the names of all of them, but the first Gem was a Dragon Gem named Ragirok who was defeated by Azar the first Masked. The first Raven and Giant Gems I don't know much about but the fourth Gem was the Fox Gem named Kyuubi; Master Kamikage and Master Haku defeated him. He alone almost destroyed the Masked. The fifth Gem was another Dragon named Malchior who used a wizard named Rorek to turn him into a real dragon; it was later Rorek who defeated Malchior. And Raven here is the sixth Gem, and obviously the last."

"How do you know of Malchior? You never met him." Robin sneered.

"Yeah, we practically got our butts handed to us fighting him." Beast Boy added.

"Really? Then I guess Raven must've accidentally set him free. Did he seduce you, Raven?" I asked. Raven glared and turned away. "I wonder how that must feel, being seduced by your own half-brother."

"That's not what matters. Why is Marth back? What does he want? Why is he after us and you?" Robin asked.

"If I were to take an educated guess, I'd guess that he was brought back to life when Raven defeated Trigon and resurrected the earth. What he wants is the life energy of six people to stabilize his new form, and, probably revenge and that's why he's after the six of us."

"That still doesn't answer why he's after us." Robin said. "What did we do that would make him want revenge?"

"He must think that I care about you so he wants to bring me as much pain as possible."

"What does he want revenge on you for?"

"That's the easiest question of all." I replied. "I killed him."

Robin pushed my head violently back, slamming it against the wall. He then released his grip and he and the other Titans and Terra walked out the room. After they left, my eyes scanned my surroundings. How was I going to get myself out of this one?

On the wall right behind my hand was a panel held in place by four screws. I pulled my hand back the one inch I could and placed my thumb on one of the screws. I twisted my hand and the screw turned with it. Slowly, I turned the screw and pulled it away. I then used the screw to pick the lock on the bracket on my wrist.

The bracket broke off and fell away. It hit the ground with a loud clang. My eye starred at the door, waiting for the Titans to come rushing back in. The door remained closed fast. This room must be soundproof. I reached with my free hand and easily ripped the bracket off my other hand. With both hands free I tore the clasp off my ankles. I stepped away toward the door when I noticed a viewing screen on the wall with a control setting next to it. I thought for a minute, and then turned the screen on. The image of the Titans right outside the door appeared.

"I don't know how I came back." Terra said. "I just remember the lava and the immense pain of the volcano. Then I felt cold. I couldn't feel, I couldn't move, but I think I might have been able to see and hear because I remember Beast Boy's voice."

"But you obviously got free some how." Robin said.

"I remember right before I came back, I saw a bright white light flood the cave. When that light hit me, I could suddenly feel again and I could move. As the light passed, I fell to the ground and there I stayed for I don't remember how long. When I finally got the strength to move, I saw that the neural suit Slade had given me was gone."

"Why didn't you just come back to us? We would've taken you back in." Beast Boy said.

"I didn't want to become a Titan. I've already shown that I can't be trusted, I don't deserve to be a Teen Titan." She turned away from Beast Boy, turning her back to the Titans. "When I'm ready, I'll rejoin. Until then, I'm just another civilian."

I pressed the button by the door and it opened with a sliding "weerr" sound. The Titans each turned toward me and reached for their respective weapons. "So," I said, "Raven's spell did more than just destroy Trigon and give Marth that new body. It also gave Terra another chance at life."

"You're not getting Terra again!" Beast Boy shouted.

"I have no interest in Terra, or any of you for that matter. All I'm interested in is saving my own skin from Marth, and keeping you alive is the only way to do it." I said.

"You horrible…Isn't there anyone you care about? Anywhere? Other than yourself?" Robin growled.

I glared back at him. How narrow minded of a fool. I turned away in disgust, or perhaps not to give him the satisfaction of seeing a tear fall from my eye.

Robin's mentioning of the people I loved only caused me to remember them. My true best friend, Shaun. The last thing he ever said was his pleading for forgiveness from me. He thought that he'd failed miserably and that I hated him for it, but I never hated Shaun. He was the closest thing to a brother I ever had.

And my teacher, Master Shinobi. He was always there to help me if I needed guidance, protecting me if I were in danger even though I saved him just as often. The last words he said to me, "The time has come for you to stop being my student, and you to be my equal." That was the day I advanced from the level of Warrior to the level of Master. It was the day after that he was killed.

Master Kinchi, the head of the Masked council at the time. His leadership was stern, but fair. He believed in me and knew I could become a powerful Masked even if most of the rest of the council didn't.

Most of all, I remembered Arella. She was the only woman I ever loved, and I never had the chance to make a life with her. She was the one I missed the most and suffered the most because of. She suffered because of my incompetence and ignorance.

Yes, there once were people I cared about long ago. But now they were all dead. Or worse than dead. "Not for a long time, Robin. But once there were people I loved. But they were taken from me, killed by Marth just so that he could get to me. If any of them survived, then they suffered a fate worse than death." I turned back to face him, and all the Titans were starring at me with looks of shock and stun on their faces. A tiny dark line of water cut across my mask from my eye down until it fell to the ground. "What are you looking at? Is it so surprising that I'm human?"

"You've never given us a reason to think otherwise." Raven remarked.

"You never gave me a chance." I wiped the tear away and starred coldly at them. "But that's all in the past. I'm not that kind-hearted person anymore. The person you see now is who I am; dark, cold, and remorseless." Captive of my own selfish desires.


	8. Beyond the Titans

**Beyond the Titans**

The Titans continued to stare at me for several seconds. I turned away and started walking. "Where are you going now?" Robin asked.

"I'm going to find Marth and kill him." I said.

"So, what about us?" Raven asked.

"What about you? I don't care about you any more. I don't need an apprentice, you mean nothing." I continued walking, then stopped. "Although," I said, "if Marth is after you I would probably have a better chance of finding him by staying with you."

"We want less to do with you. Just leave us alone." Beast Boy shouted.

A bright red light started flashing and an alarm blared through the tower. Robin raced passed me and to the control consel. "Looks like I don't have that choice. Marth is on the attack again."

Marth smashed a brick wall of a bank with his steel fist. He jumped inside the building, smashing things with his body of steel. People screamed and ran, jumping from their chairs and out of their lines to get away. As Marth pulled back a fist for another attack, an exploding disk whirled through the air and struck him in the face. The explosion shook the room and caused Marth to stagger on his feet. Smoke bellowed from his face.

"Now, what would you want with money?" Robin said. He, Starfire, Cyborg, Raven, Beast Boy, and Terra stood in the gapping hole in the wall.

Marth shook his head and the smoke cleared. His body morphed into the body of his original, somewhat human, self. "I want nothing with money." He said. "I just wanted to bring you out of hiding." His eyes scanned the group. "Where is Slade?"

He was right, I wasn't standing with the group. "Right here!" I shouted. His head looked up at the ceiling and saw me, standing in the rafters. I jumped down, both feet aimed right for his head. I hit with a bone crunching thud, driving Marth into a crater in the floor.

I stepped away from his now mangled body. He jerked wildly and his bones snapped back into place. As his bones snapped together, he slowly climbed back to his feet. Once back on his feet, he pushed a strand of hair away from his face and shot a fierce look at me. "You'll have to do better than that." He said. He swung his arm in a blindingly fast uppercut, smashing his flaming fist in my face.

I crashed to the ground on my back, thankful for the mask protecting my face. Marth stood over me, both hands aflame. Suddenly, a giant boulder flew from the Titans and crashed into him, sending him crashing into another wall. Terra stood with her hand stretched out, glowing yellow.

The boulder was embedded in the wall. Suddenly, the rock crumbled and a blast of flames shot out. Marth stepped out from behind it, popping his knuckles. "That would've hurt under other circumstances." He said. "I must thank you, Slade. You've brought one of my sacrifices directly to me."

"What?" I asked.

He held out his left hand and from each finger a stream of red glowing energy grew and wrapped around the five regular Titans. A sixth one wrapped around me, pulling my arms close. I struggled, but the bind could not be broken. Terra stood alone, the only one Marth had not tied up. "You've brought me your apprentice. I take no interest in the Titans, not all of them anyway. Only in the ones that have a connection to you." He thrust his right hand forward and an extra thick heat bind flew from his fist and wrapped around Terra. The bind retracted, pulling her closer to him.

"Stop it!" Beast Boy shouted. He groaned and struggled, twisting in the bind that held him, but to no avail. He morphed, a gorilla, a tiger, a grizzly bear, but still could not escape.

Once Terra was close enough, Marth placed his hand on her head and I could see white energy leave her body and flow into Marth's. He was stealing her life force. Her hair turned from sunshine blond to faded gray. Even her skin lost its tone and taunt. Screams of pain echoed through the air, but Marth had us caught in his heat binds and we could do nothing to help her.

Terra's screams dissipated into raspy weezes, and Marth tossed her to the ground. Her body fell in a heep, wezzing for breath. Terra now resembled an 85-year old woman. "Life." Marth grinned. "Life is what you stole from me, so I'll just take it back."

The Titans gasped in shock at what they had just whitnessed. One of their friends, life force stolen before their eyes.

Beast Boy thrashed more ferociously in Marth's grip. His usual single fang grew larger and a second sprouted from the other side of his mouth. This clothes began to tear at the seams, thick fur started growing across his body. "GRRrraaaawwwwWW." He growled. His eyes flashed open and I saw no pupil within the iris. The hair on his head grew out, forming a long flowing mane. His muscles, hardly noticeable before, tore his clothes apart. He was morphing, but not to any animal I had ever seen. This creature seemed almost to be a combination of morphs. A type of were-wolf morph. This new were-beast merely flexed its arms and the heat bind that contained it snapped apart.

"rrrrRRRAAAWWWLLLllll!" It roared. The creature raced forward on all fours and grabbed Marth with its powerful arms. Marth lost control and the binds that held me and the other Titans dissipated. The Beast crashed through the wall and out to the street. It heaved Marth over its head and tossed his into a parked car on the other side of the road.

I ran to the gapping hole in the wall and watched. The Titans soon followed. "Beast Boy's out of control." Robin said.

"He actually morphed into that beast again." Raven commented.

"That beast might be just the thing we need." I said.

Marth crawled out of the ruble that used to be a car. He now stood not in his human body, but in his Creature form. However, instead of being white, his skin now had more of a light pink tone to it.

Marth placed his feet onto the asfault of the road and his body turned black, taking on the characteristics of asfault. The Beast leapt at Marth and tackled him. The two creatures crashed to the ground, leaving a crater in the road. The Beast slashed its claws across the body and face of the Creature, leaving gashes. The Creature grabbed the Beast by the arm and delivered a powerful punch to its face. The Beast staggered as the Creature got back on its feet. The Beast charged again, this time grabbing the Creature and lifting it over it's head. The Beast threw it with all its force and the Creature flew through the air and crashed on the sidewalk half a block away, smashing a fire hydrent. Water gushed out of the broken metal. The water poured over the Creature, gradually changing its form. The Creature took the form of water. It formed a spiraling gyaser of water and shot up in the air, crashing back down on the Beast in a torrent.

The torrent ceased, and the Beast lay in a puddle of water. Its fur soaked wet. The Creature, still made of water, stood next to the Beast in triumph. The Beast's eyes flashed open and it jumped up, slashing its claws across the Creature's face. The Creature reverted to its original form as the impact caused it to step back. The Beast relentlessly attacked, slashing its claws and even punching the Creature several times. The Beast tried to grab the Creature, but it pulled away leaving a handful of fake skin in the Beast's hand. The Creature pounded a fist in the Beasts face, the Beast crashing to the ground, unconscious. The Creature leapt in the air to the rooftop of a nearby building and was gone.


	9. Messanger from Azarath

**Messenger from Azarath**

Beast Boy and Terra lay in adjacent beds in the infirmary at Titans Tower. Robin, Raven, Cyborg, and Starfire stood nervously around their beds, waiting for a sign. I stood a ways away, watching from a distance. I guess the Titans no longer considered me as the important issue. Compared to Marth, I was yesterday's news.

Beast Boy muttered almost inaudibly and his head rocked from side to side. His eyes pinched tighter and then flashed open. He sat up, the rags of what used to be his uniform fell into his lap, his hand reaching up to rub his head. The Titans all smiled in delight seeing their friend return to strength. "What happened?" Beast Boy asked.

"You morphed, into the Beast." Robin explained. "When you saw what Marth did to Terra, you became the Beast again and attacked him."

"Indeed," I said, "that were-beast morph of yours was actually causing Marth problems. I was impressed. I don't know if I could win a fight against it."

"Terra! Where is Terra!?" Beast Boy shouted. The Titans each looked down at their feet in sorrow. Slowly, the each stepped away and revealed Terra lying almost peacefully in the bed next to Beast Boy. Her body had aged considerably, her hair salt and pepper colored, her skin a pasty gray. Her breathing had slowed to a dull wheeze. "Terra!" Beast Boy jumped from his bed and ran to her side. He knelt down at the side of her bed and placed his hand on hers. "She's cold."

Terra strained to open her eyes. They blinked slowly, still as blue as ever. A smile slowly crept over her face. "Beast Boy." She whispered. A whisper was all she could manage now. Her eyes closed again. A tear formed in her eyes. Beast Boy began to cry, too. Slowly, gingerly, he slipped his arms under Terra's body and pulled her close to him.

"You have to do something, we have to save her!"

"We've tried, BB. There's nothing we can do." Cyborg replied.

"Of coarse not." I said. All eyes focused on me. I stepped forward, out of the shadows. "Marth has taken the life energy of Terra in order to fuel his own. As a result, her body is now as weak as that of an 85-year old woman, no amount of medicine or science will be able to save her life. Only Marth's defeat will save her now."

"But how do we stop him?" Robin asked. "The guy can take on the characteristics of anything he touches. He's invincible."

"I may have figured out how he does it." Cyborg said. He stepped over to the large computer screen and keyboard. "You know that tiny piece of skin BB got, I examined it and discovered something very interesting." He pressed a button on the counsel and the picture of the skin appeared on the screen. "It is not any known element. I even inspected it at a molecular level and found that the protons in the atoms are not constant."

"How is that even possible?" I asked.

"Say what now?" Beast Boy asked.

"Crash-coarse with high school physical science. Everything is made of atoms, even air. Atoms are made of protons, electrons, and neutrons. Protons are positive, neutrons are neutral, and electrons are negative. But the thing is that while electrons can jump from one atom to another, protons can not. Each atom has a specific number of protons and that number is what makes it an element. If that number where to change, then the element would change. That is what happens to Marth. That's how he shape shifts, by changing the number of protons in his atoms, but only when he's in contact with whatever the object is." Cyborg explained.

"What would happen if he had no more protons in his atoms?" Robin asked.

"Then, he would dissolve. Without the protons, the atoms would no longer be atoms and then could no longer hold together, he'd literally fall apart." Cyborg said. "And that is what is slowly happening. The more he shape-shifts, the weaker the bonds between neutrons and protons become. If he keeps it up, then soon he will no longer be able to be held together."

"That must be why he needs life energy, it must somehow be able to stabilize the bonds between some of the atoms. Some, but not all." I said.

"Then we can use this to our advantage, wait for him to dematerialize." Robin exclaimed.

"No. Some of his atoms are held together by Terra's life energy. We can't simply wait. We have to somehow get Terra's life strength back." I said.

On the ground, a circle of bright blue light appeared and started spinning. It spun faster, faster, faster still. Suddenly, a beam of blue energy grew from the circle and shot up to the ceiling. The beam expanded to fill the circle, then dissipated. Standing in its place, was an old man clad in a brown robe. His arms tucked inside the sleeves and his head was hidden by the hood. Slowly, he raised his arms and the sleeves fell away to reveal pale white fingers. The hands pushed the hood back and I saw the face of an old, wrinkled, bald man with a short white beard. "I am here to find Mistress Raven." He croaked.

Raven stepped forward. "Monk Almar?" She asked.

"Raven," he smiled, "my eyes may be old, but I still remember your face."

Raven ran passed us and wrapped her arms around the old man's neck. "Everyone, this is Monk Almar of Azarath, high priest of Azarath." The old man waved and smiled. "Monk Almar, these are…"

"Yes, I know." He said. "Robin; skilled warrior and team leader, Starfire; Tameranian princess, Cyborg; half human half machine, Beast Boy; animal shape-shifter, and Terra; gaiakenetic human earth mover." He stepped forward and looked me in the eye. He glared back at me, even though he stood a good foot shorter than me. "And this," he said, "is Master Slade; the Masked Master who defeated Marth and the entire Scath order 17 years ago as well as caused the downfall of Trigon." His glare changed to a smile and he bowed in reverence to me. "He is honored in Azarath as a hero."

"A hero? Slade?" Robin asked. "How can this guy be a hero? He's tried to destroy the entire city several times."

"Actually, I only did that once." I said. I bowed to Almar. "Monk Almar, what brings you here?"

"I am here to bring a message to you and the Teen Titans. It requests that the seven of you come with me back to Azarath, to escape your new foe." Almar said.

"You mean, run away?" Starfire asked.

"No, I am meant to bring you back to give you each a special trainer to help you defeat Marth. And under the care of our priests and healers, we can keep Terra save."

The Titans and I stood frozen in our tracks. A message from Azarath itself, requesting us to go and receive special training. But the thought in my mind pressed not so much on Azarath itself, but on who might be there. I once heard Raven talk about Azarath as the place she was born, so maybe, just maybe, _she _might be there. I found myself thinking at a thousand miles per hour, my heart pounding in my chest. Now, I can't tell you what I was thinking about exactly. Seconds felt like hours. Azarath. Azarath. If I could go there, then…..

"I'll go." I said.

"Me, too." Raven stepped forward.

One by one the Titans each agreed to go. Soon, the only one left was Beast Boy. All eyes fixed on him. He knelt by Terra's bed, his arms still held around her delicate body. "If it'll help Terra, then I'm coming, too."

Almar nodded. "Very well. Everyone, gather in the transportation circle and the spell will commence." The six Titans and I stepped into the circle of blue light, Beast Boy holding Terra in his arms. Almar held his arms out and chanted, "Azarath Metrion Zinthos, Aldemil Heindering Azarath, Azarath, AZARATH!" The blue circle on the floor began to glow. The energy beam shot up from the circle and engulfed us. The energy dissipated, we were gone.


	10. Reunion

**Reunion**

Once the energy field dissipated, I saw that we had changed our surroundings. In front of us, and already all around us was a city built in a kind of gothic yet futuristic style. The great city of Azarath. I stood in awe at the pure glory of the only city of peace in existence. The eight of us stood in a circle of glowing blue light within the center tower of Azarath. In front of us, two women in robes similar to Monk Almar's stood waiting. I scanned over them quickly and found that neither of them was _her_.

"Oh, Monk Almar. It is good that your journey was successful. Is this them?" The first one asked.

"Yes." Almar answered. "These are the Teen Titans and their ally, Master Slade."

"He is not our ally!" Robin shouted. "He's our greatest enemy."

"If he's your greatest enemy, why are you on the same side?" The second woman asked. "Because, he is your greatest help. Especially if Marth has returned."

"Now you know who Marth is." Beast Boy said with a bit of sarcasm, he still held Terra in his arms.

"Of coarse we do, Marth is the prophet of Trigon. And if the stories are true, then Slade helped you to defeat that monster."

"That was a one time thing." Robin said.

"Maybe so, but if there ever was another time when you needed the help of a Masked Master, now would be that time." Her eyes fell of Terra still clinging to life in Beast Boy's arms. "Oh, my poor dear. Please, giver her to us."

"Why?" Beast Boy asked.

"We are healers. That is why we are here waiting for you. We will take Terra and do all we can to help her."

Beast Boy hesitated, looking down into Terra's eyes. She strained, and gave a slight smile. Beast Boy smiled in return and slowly handed her over to the two healers. "Take care of her."

"We will do all we can for her." They said.

"Now, come." Almar said. "There is someone who I think you should meet. A woman who came to us hurt and lost." He started walking forward toward a door in the far corner of the room.

I could feel my heart pound wildly in my chest, beads of sweat dripped across my forehead, I was actually glad I had my mask so none of the Titans could see. I had fought an army of evil cult members, battled powerful animals, tamed monsters of fire, presented the only true threat to the Titans, and even brought down an interdimentional demon. But now, the concept of seeing a single person after seventeen years had me shaken. Frightened in fact.

Almar stopped just out side the door and grabbed the handle. "I'd like you all to meet," he twisted the handle and pushed the door open. "Arella." Light flooded through the doorway, bright brilliant sunlight that blinded me. After my eyes adjusted, I saw a balcony with dozens of white doves standing, walking, and even flying around a single figure. A woman in a flowing white robe. A hood hid her face, but I still felt that is was her. "Arella, I have brought them." Almar said.

"Thank you, Monk Almar." She replied. Almar bowed and then walked away. Arella turned to face us. For the first time in seventeen years, I saw her face. Still beautiful and as graceful as ever. But now, I couldn't find the joy and happiness in her eyes, only sorrow. She seemed sad to me. So sad. Her eyes drifted across the six of us and slowly fell on me. The sorrow disappeared and was replaced by anger. "Slade." She hissed.

I reached out with my hand and stepped forward. "Arella."

"Don't." She snapped. "Don't even think about it." She turned away. "I summoned you here to help you destroy Marth, not to reminisce about old times."

"But I…"

"Just leave me alone, Slade."

I felt my heart sink. A pain worse even then when I fell into melted lava. Heartbreak. After I had finally found her, I'd lost the love of my life again. A tear fell from my eye and rolled down the side of my mask. I reached into one of my side pockets and pulled out a gold heart shaped locket. My name engraved on one side, her name on the other. I stared down at the locket, it used to mean so much to me, but now it meant nothing. I dropped it there at my feet. I then started running.

I ran to the edge of the balcony and leapt, flying through the air until I landed on an adjacent building. From there, I kept running until I jumped again to another building, gradually I made my way down to street level. Once there, I just started walking, slowly walking down the street. People walked passed me, some took no notice, but I remember in particular a mother with her young son. As I approached, she hastily put herself between her and her child, fearing that I might do something.

No one trusted me anymore. Not a single person in the world would ever trust me again.

"Master Slade." A voice called out. I turned around and saw Monk Almar racing after me. "Master Slade, what are you doing out here?"

"Nothing."

"I need to get you to help train the boy, Robin. You are to be one of his trainers."

"No." I said.

"What?"

"Take me home. I don't want to be here anymore. I have nothing left for me here."

"But Master Slade…."

"And stop calling me 'Master'. I'm the master of nothing. Just please take me home."

Almar looked solemnly at me and nodded. "Alright. As you wish." He placed his hands together and chanted the spell again, this time replacing Azarath with Earth. The portal reopened and enveloped the both of us.

Later, the portal opened again just outside my trailer. Although it was my home, the sight of it made me angry. I hated it. "Thank you, Almar." I said, and walked inside.

The inside suddenly seemed tight and cramped. This didn't really seam like the place I belonged. I hated it here. This was more like a prison than a home. The place remained dark, dreary. Hanging on the wall was a full-length mirror, I saw myself in it. In full Masked uniform. I pulled my right glove off to reveal the pale skin beneath. I placed my hand on my mask and the genetic lock detached. I pulled the mask away and looked at my face in the mirror.

It was the face of a stranger. I hardly even recognized myself, the way my black hair hung over my right eye to hide the ugly scar. The face of someone long since dead. I held up the mask in front of my eyes and instantly recognized it. The face of the mask, the evil Slade who haunted the city and terrorized it citizens, this was the me I knew. This was the real me.

"No wonder she hates me." I whispered. I slumped down on the bed, holding my mask in my hands. "Why do I keep fooling myself?" I asked myself. "She'll never see me as anything but a monster."


	11. Unlikely Friendship

**Unlikely Friendship**

As I sat there starring at the mask, I heard a light knocking on the door. I jumped to my feet, startled. I walked to the door and peeked out a small hole in the screen. It was Raven. Raven stood outside my door. What was she doing here?

I clicked my mask back into place and pulled the door open. Raven hood covered her face. "Why'd you go off running so fast?" She asked.

"How did you find this place?"

"You answer my question first."

"Fine. I left because, I don't do social gatherings. With all of you there, plus the monks and Arella, I decided that it was time for me to take my leave." I leaned up against the door way and crossed my arms. "Now you tell me, how did you find this place?"

"Next time, don't tell Monk Almar where you live. Because he'll tell me." She lifted her arm out from under her cloak. In her hand, she held the gold heart-shaped locket. "And that whole 'social gathering' thing is a lie, isn't it? I thought you said you don't lie."

"Let me rephrase, I don't lie often." I said. "And why do you have that?" As I reached to take it back, Raven pulled her hand away keeping a firm grasp on the locket.

"Why does this have your name and my mother's name on it?" She asked.

"Well, um…"

She pried it open and looked at the pictures inside. "And these pictures are they of you and her long ago?"

I sighed, keeping my arms crossed. "What does it matter? She hates me now anyway."

"That's not what these pictures say. What was your relationship with Arella?"

"Do you really want to know?" I asked.

"Yes." Raven nodded. "I saw the pain in her eyes when she saw you, as well as the pain in your eye when she told you to leave her alone. My mother has been sad and miserable for as long as I've known her, apparently you've known her since before then. And from what I can tell from these pictures, she was happy then. While she knew you."

"I……I loved her." I finally brought myself to say. "She was the only woman I've ever loved. And it was my job to protect her from Marth and the Scath." I gripped at the material of my uniform. "I tried and for a while I succeeded, but then…"

"You failed?"

"Isn't the fact that you're standing here proof enough that I failed? If I had succeeded, then Marth would've never gotten to her, she never would've been sent to Trigon, you wouldn't have been born and I wouldn't be a Masked right now."

I looked back over at Raven. Her face, as usual, hid all emotion. It's not everyday you learn that your greatest enemy was once in love with your mother. She was taking it rather well. "Did she……love you back?"

I shrugged. "From what I could tell."

Her eyes shifted downward and squinted as if in thought. She then held out her hand, dark energy glowed around it. "Azarath, Metrion, Zinthos." She said. A small vortex of energy formed and a picture appeared in the center. The image showed Arella kneeling in what appeared to be a temple of some kind. Incense sticks burned in small gold bowls full of ash. "This is a one way visual portal. We can see and hear her, but she can't see or hear us."

"God," Arella was saying, "I need your help now. I never wanted to see him again, but he came back. I want to forget the pain, but I can't. I hate everything there is about him, I hate everything about Slade." She said. I felt my heart sink. A terrible pain filled my chest. "But if that's true then why? Why do I still love him?" I turned in surprise and faced the visual image. "I don't want to, but I can't help myself. A part of me wants to be with him, while the other part is disgusted by the thought. Please, god, help me to forget how it felt to be in love. I don't want to hurt anymore."

"And I don't want you to hurt anymore either, mom." Raven said. She closed her hand and the image faded. "You see that, Slade? She truly misses you."

"And yet she despises me. How do I make a decision now? Knowing that whatever I choose will only cause her pain."

"Well, you have to make a choice; you're part of her life again. Just tell her the truth; you seem to be good at that." Raven said. Suddenly, the communicator on her belt began to flash a red light and bleep the distress signal. Raven grabbed the communicator and flipped the screen up. "Trouble, Marth is attacking."

"Where?"

"Apparently, in the Himalayas. He's attacking Jericho. Why would Marth go there?"

I knew. I knew exactly why Marth would choose to go after Jericho. "We have to get there and stop him. How fast can you take us to the Himalayas?"

"Faster than you think. Azarath, Metrion, Zinthos." Both of us were surrounded in dark energy which took the shape of a raven. The energy raven flapped its wings and we started flying. Toward the Himalayan mountains.


	12. Secrets

**Secrets**

The bird of energy dissipated. I looked around and saw high mountain tops as far as the eye could see. Dozens of snow covered mountains. The Himalayas. Raven lowered her arms and grabbed her communicator. The top flipped open and she pressed the talk button. "Robin, Starfire, Cyborg? Are you here yet?"

"We're here, Raven. I've got your location, we'll be there in a minute." Robin's voice came over the communicator.

"We don't have time." I said. "That communicator of yours can locate Jericho, can't it?"

"Yes." Raven replied.

"Then we have to find him before Marth does."

"Why is Marth after Jericho in the first place?" Robin asked.

"For reasons that only I need to know." I said.

"Slade, I know as well as you why Marth is after him." Arella's voice said over the communicator.

"Arella?" I said.

"Mom?" Raven said.

"Yes. This is just as important to me. Now, Raven, go with Slade and find Jericho." She said. "We'll meet you there."

"Okay. Raven, out." She closed the connection and a grid came across the screen. Several different blinking dots appeared on the grid. "I've found Jericho."

"Then lets get going." I said. We started walking, walking through the rough terrain and rocks of the Himalaya mountains. While we walked, a musical tune wavered through the air. The sound of guitar strings being picked.

"That must be Jericho's guitar." Raven said. "We must be getting close." She moved off in the direction of the music. I followed. As we neared, I saw Jericho seated on a rock holding his guitar across his lap, plucking the stings. "Jericho, thank goodness, you're alright." Raven said.

Jericho looked up from his guitar and smiled. He placed his guitar aside and got up. He signaled with his hands in gratitude.

"Come on, the rest of my team is here." Raven turned to lead again. Jericho followed. I fell into line behind Jericho, my eye never left him. He was my son, my son who I had never met. I don't know if he even knew who his real parents were. As we walked, he grew steadily closer and closer to Raven. When he got within range, he placed his hand on her shoulder and suddenly white energy started to run up his arm and away from Raven. Raven screamed and fell to her knees, her life energy still being drained away.

"Marth." I hissed. I pulled back my fist and punched him in the back of the head with all my strength. He staggered and lost his grip on Raven. He turned and looked back at me with Jericho's stunned eyes. "You're disguise will does not suit you."

He smiled, his eyes changed from green to red. "Still sharp, Slade." he said. His body started to morph; he shed Jericho's form and changed back into his Fire Scath shape. "Did it really take you until then to notice that I wasn't really what I appeared?"

Raven pushed herself back to her feet. "Where is the real Jericho?" She asked.

"He's safe, aside from the fact that he's drained of life force. That means that I have absorbed 2 of the 6 victims I have in my sights." He said.

A fast moving disk flew through the air and crashed into the ground right in front of Marth. It exploded on contact, throwing rocks and dust into the air. Marth stepped back, covering his eyes with his arm. I looked in the direction that the disk had come from and saw Robin, Beast Boy, Starfire, Cyborg, and Arella. Held in Cyborg's arms was a weak and shriveled Jericho.

"We're taking you down, Marth." Robin said.

Marth shook his head and looked back up in Robin's direction. His eyes instantly fell on Arella. An evil grin came across his face. "Arella, it's been too long. How has your life been?"

"Go to Hell." She replied.

"Been there, done that, have no intention of doing it again. I guess the three of us have all been there and back, right Slade?" Marth smiled. "I actually have you to thank for getting me out."

"What is he talking about?" Beast Boy asked.

"Well, if you must know, you little annoying insect, if it weren't for Slade, I would not be here right now. When he opened the Door of Lost Souls, he released my soul."

"When did he open some door?" Cyborg asked.

"When he took Robin down into Trigon's dimension to find Raven, Slade went off on his own to retrieve his old flesh and blood. The legend said that if the door was opened then the opener would receive one wish. This tale is false, however." Marth explained.

"Then how could I have gotten my life back?" I asked.

"That door held back the souls of all the Scath that have ever existed. Did you notice the rays of light escaping from the doorway?" I nodded. "Those where the souls. One of those light beams struck you and returned your life. A Scath spirit. The only Scath spirit that would help you, mush less a Masked. You knew her."

"Her." The answer suddenly struck me. The only Scath that would help me. "My mother."

Marth nodded. "When the rest of us escaped, she chose to fuse with you and restore your body. As a result, her spirit no longer exists." He turned back to Arella. "In any sense, it was nice of you to bring me all of my last sacrifices. You're apprentice, the Gem, and the Gem's mother. And of course you, Slade."

"Not on my watch." Robin said. He pulled a bow staff from his belt.

"You don't have much choice." Marth's hands became engulfed in flames. He held one hand out toward me and Raven, a blast of flames flew from his hand and scorched the ground in front of us. Flames flew from his other hand and blasted into the ground before Robin and the other Titans creating a large cloud of dust.

He raced as fast as he could toward Arella. Arella staggered away from the dust cloud and looked up just in time to see Marth grab her by the wrist. Her energy started to drain from her body and Marth absorbed it. She screamed in pain, falling to her knees. Marth's grip did not loosen. "Scream for me, Arella." he hissed.

I charged as fast as I could, pulling a twin-blade from my belt. As I closed, Marth held out his other hand and a beam of heat energy wrapped around my body, pinning my arms.

"Try as you might, you can't break this bind. You never could." Marth said.

An eagle talon of black energy smashed into Marth's body. He lost his grip in Arella's wrist and on me. The energy pinned him to the ground. "Leave my mother alone!" Raven shouted.

Even when pinned, Marth still grinned. His body once again started to morph. His body changed into his monster form. And he melded into the ground.

I placed the twin-blade back into my belt and ran to Arella's side. "Arella." I whispered. I slipped my arms under her body and lifted her away from the ground. She was hurt, but Marth didn't have enough time to drain her energy for good. She leaned her head against my chest and her eyes opened slightly.

"Slade." She whispered.

Marth suddenly shot up out of the ground, his arm stretched out reaching for Arella and me. I jumped back, pushing my legs into the ground and propelling away. Marth's hand crashed into the rocks, smashing the rocks to rubble. "I won't let you touch her."

"Your noble streak is getting annoying." Marth said.

"No matter what, I won't let you have Arella. I already lost her to you once, I won't loose her again." I said. I pulled her body closer to mine.

"What ever." He said. "I got what I came here for. I'll get the rest of you later" His body melded back into the earth and disappeared.

Arella wrapped her arms around my neck, bringing her face right next to mine. "Thank you." She said. "I'm sorry for what I said, earlier."

"It's okay, I probably deserved it." I said. I placed her gently on her feet. Our eyes met and suddenly the rest of the world faded away. I forgot all about the troubles of my disorganized life.

I was brought out of my trance when I heard Raven call Arella over to Jericho. "Mom!" She called. "Come over here." Arella's eyes moved toward her daughter's voice.

"Yeah, we're coming." She said. She pulled on my hand and together we walked back to the others. Everyone hovered over Jericho, he lay on the ground. His skin hung from his body and his usually curly blonde hair now gray.

"Why?" Beast Boy asked. "I knew Jericho. He'd probably the most mild mannered person I know, why would Marth go after him?"

All eyes turned to face me. "What?" I asked.

"You know something about this." Robin said. "Marth is obviously going after only people that have a connection to you. What connection does Jericho have to you?"

I sighed and looked down at the boy, his eyes closed in sleep. Arella's hand tightened around mine. I looked up and our eyes met again. "Slade, the truth must be told." She said. She turned and faced Robin. "The reason Marth wants Jericho is because Jericho is Slade's son."

"What!?" The Titans shouted in unison.

"That's impossible!" Robin cried.

"I can run a DNA test right here and now to find out." Cyborg suggested.

"If you must." I said. I pulled my glove off and held out my hand. A needle protruded itself from Cyborg's fingertip and stuck into my skin. After a second another needle protruded from a different finger and extracted DNA from Jericho.

Cyborg started to analyzed the DNA. He pressed several buttons on his arm and a small screen appeared. "It's true. Slade and Jericho carry the same Y chromosome. They're father and son." Cyborg analyzed the DNA closer and then said, "Now this is interesting."

"What?" Robin asked.

"Jericho shares the DNA with another Titan." Cyborg said.

"Who?" Robin asked.

"You won't believe this." His eyes turned toward his fellow team mate. "The other Titan with Jericho's DNA is Raven."

Raven's hand clasped to her chest as she gasped.

"Wait a minute, does that mean that Raven and Slade are…?" Beast Boy asked.

Cyborg pushed a few more buttons on his arm and shook his head. "No. Raven and Slade share no genetic material. Jericho must be related to Raven on her mother's side."

"Then, Jericho and I…" Raven started, "which means that you two…" she pointed to Arella and I. A shiver ran up her spine.

"I never told you, you had a half-brother." Arella said.

"I knew I had half-brothers, just that they were all on my father's side." Raven's face twisted into a look of anger. "How could you, mom?"

"I was a kid, it wasn't expected. I didn't even know about Joseph until he was born." Arella replied.

"Joseph?" I asked.

"His real name, the name I gave him was Joseph Wilson, with your last name, Slade."

"If he's my brother, why didn't we grow up together?" Raven asked.

"I was told to concentrate on raising you, Raven. I had to give Joseph up for adoption." Arella continued.

"Right now, we don't have time to keep talking about this. We need to get Jericho back to Azarath so they can help him."


	13. Trust

**Trust**

We returned to Azarath with Jericho. We gave him to the nurses who put him in the same room as Terra in a bed next to hers. Despite this, there was little anyone could do to help them. Terra's case had worsened, now she slept most of the time. The nurses became tense and worried whenever she slept and relieved whenever she woke up. Each time she feel asleep, they thought she might not wake up.

I stood on the edge of a balcony, looking out over the land of Azarath as the sun set behind the horizon. My arms held at my side, paying attention to nothing yet noticing everything at the same time. I noticed how the doves flew through the air, or how the people below on the streets walked. I even noticed when Arella came to talk to me. She walked right up next to me and leaned her arms against the railing.

"Slade?" she asked.

My eye looked down at her, and then moved back to the setting sun. "Yes?"

"I wanted to apologize, if anything I said earlier upset you." She said. "It was wrong of me."

"But it was true. I probably deserved it."

"That doesn't excuse my behavior."

I placed my hands on the railing next to hers. She looked up at me and her eyes met mine. "You did nothing wrong. If anyone should be apologizing, it should be me." My eye caught the sparkle of gold hanging around her neck. A small, heart shaped locket. "Is that the locket I gave you?" I asked.

She smiled, and grabbed it lightly with one hand. "Yes, Raven found it and gave it back to me. I'm surprised the pictures inside lasted for as long as they did. I actually thought it was lost forever until Raven found it today."

"I've been keeping it with me for the past 17 years, it's been the only thing I've to remind me of you." I placed my hand on hers. "I've missed you." My gaze moved back to the setting sun. "It's strange."

"What?"

"Everything that's happened; everything since we fought Marth in the recycling center, has all been in the space of one day." I said. "So much has happened in the space of one day."

"I hope we're not interrupting anything." A voice said from behind us. We turned and saw Robin and Raven standing in the shadows. Robin stepped out of the shadows and his hand instantly moved to his utility belt, reaching for a weapon just in case.

"I can see you still don't trust me." I said.

"I have good reason not to trust you, Slade." He replied, his voice filled with as much hate as usual.

"For good reason. But Raven seems to trust me, despite the things I've done to her."

"I don't trust you, Slade. I trust my mother, and she trusts you." Raven said. "Those pictures in that locket, mom, you looked so happy back then. I've never seen you happy, all my memorize of you are of you sad, or depressed."

"I've heard of this before." I said. I crossed my arms and faced away from Raven. "Sometimes, when a woman is raped and that rape results in the birth of a child, the mother could see the child as an extension of the rapist or that the kid is a constant reminder of what she had to endure, so she will take out her anger and frustration on the child."

"How could you say that, Slade?" Arella shouted. She walked to her daughter and took Raven in her arms. "I would never do that to Raven. I love her. It's not her fault Trigon was her father."

A slight breeze stirred the air. Robin's and Raven's capes flapped in the wind. A small cloud of dust as well as a dried up leaf brushed across the balcony until they came to the edge and fell away.

"Perhaps you wouldn't do it consciously, but subconsciously you still know the reason Raven is alive." I said.

Arella pulled Raven closer to her body. Fully embracing her daughter.

"Slade." Robin said. "We still need to find a way do defeat Marth and stop his rampage. And as much as I hate to ask for it, do you have any ideas?"

"Hm." I thought. "As long as Marth still possesses the life force of Terra and Jericho he can not be stopped. If you haven't noticed, his powers increase with every person he absorbs. He can now move around when he's merged with items instead of being trapped to one part." I explained. "What we need to do is somehow take the life force he's already stolen away from him, then it's only a matter of time until his body decomposes."

"And how do you expect us to do that?" Robin asked.

For that, I did not have an answer. I had no weapons designed to steal life force. The thought never crosses my mind.

"Actually," Raven said, "there once was a spell that was created specifically for that."

"There was?" I asked. "That's a useful bit of information."

"Where is it?" Robin asked.

"No one knows." Raven said. "The spell was created by Azar over 3,000 years ago, but it mysteriously disappeared not long after its creation."

"That's great." Robin muttered. "We have a chance and it slips out of our hands. It's no good, unless we have a time machine or something." Robin then snapped his fingers and pointed to Raven. "You're powers can manipulate time, can't they?"

"Only to a degree. I can pull things through time only if I'm in the desired era myself and I know where that person is." Raven replied.

Robin punched at the air, his teeth clenched together. "RrrAA!"

"Don't discourage, Robin. Not all hope is lost." I said. "Because, as a matter of fact…" I ended my statement and let Robin try to figure out the rest.

His face changed into an expression of surprise. "You have a time machine, don't you?"

I nodded. "Didn't you think that with my knowledge of how to stop and warp time, I would eventually be able to travel through time? The physics of it are virtually the same."

"Then why haven't you used it before? Tried to chance the past?" Robin asked

"Because the machine uses so much power, that I can't generate enough. To power the machine for a jump back in time of three months would use as much energy as Jump city uses in a week. For a time jump of 3,000 years would consume all the power of the entire U.S. for a month and a half. And not just the continental United States either."

"Point taken. Dang it, the machine's a lost cause." Robin growled.

"But at the moment, perhaps our only hope. And it's not a lost cause, if you can provide me with enough power to operate the time machine." My arms fell back to my sides and I started walking to the door behind Robin. His hand clutched at a weapon on his belt. "You're still on edge, A wise decision." I said. "But maybe, one day, you'll see that I'm no longer a threat to you or your precious city."

"That's not the point." Robin replied. "I don't trust you. And it would take a lot for me to change my mind."

"I know I have a lot to atone for. But in the meantime, we are on the same side." I said.

"For now." Robin remarked.


	14. Time Travel

-1**Time Travel**

I made my way back to the medical ward, where Starfire, Cyborg, and Beast Boy were standing next to both Terra and Jericho. Their conditions had not improved, but fortunately they had not worsened either.

Beast Boy knelt next to Terra's bed, his hands clasped over hers. "I will find a way to save you." he whispered. Tears streamed from his eyes. "I promise."

"Ah, young love is so entertaining to watch." I said. "Yet, pointless. It is doughtful that she can hear you, and even if she could that might be a promise that is out of your power to fulfill."

"I can go for a day without your smart remarks, Slade." Beast Boy grumbled.

"Couldn't we all?" I said. "What are the three of you doing here? You should be off training for our next confrontation with Marth."

"As if it matters." Cyborg said. "We've thrown everything we have at the dude, nothing can stop him."

"For as long as he has Terra's and Jericho's life energy. If we had a way to give the life energy he's stolen back to them, then he could be defeated. In fact, that is what I've come here to talk to you about," I said.

"Do you have a way?" Beast Boy asked.

I nodded. "Raven has informed me of a spell designed specifically for that reason."

"Well, that's rather convenient." Cyborg remarked.

"Please, what does 'convenient' mean?" Starfire asked.

"It means that whatever it is, is extremely and unusually helpful to the current and generally extraordinary situation. Or it just makes things really easy." Cyborg explained.

"Oh, yes. Then this is rather convenient." Starfire struggled over the last word.

"But this isn't as convenient as you think. This spell was lost over 3,000 years ago and no one knows where it is, or how to perform it." I explained.

"Dang it!" Beast Boy cried out.

"Don't lose hope. I have a way to find it. Are any of you familiar with time travel technology?" I asked.

"You have a time machine?" Cyborg asked. "How'd you manage that, and why haven't you used it yet?"

"I hate explaining things twice." I muttered. "I haven't used it because it needs too much energy to operate efficiently."

"How much energy does it need to work?" Cyborg asked.

"For the specified time period, about all the energy the country uses in 45 days or so." I replied.

"Hm. Is all of this legit?" Cyborg asked.

"I know none of you trust me, but haven't you learned yet that I might mislead, but I never outright lie? Why do you ask?"

"Because, what if I said that I could get you that energy?" Cyborg said.

I raised one eyebrow. At this point, Raven, Robin, and Arella entered the room. They had all heard what Cyborg had said. "You could?" I asked.

"A couple of my power cells, maybe two or three, would probably provide more than enough power for that machine."

"Of course." I said. "In order for a power cell to power machinery as complex as yours for as long as it does would have to have an immense amount of energy stored within it."

"So, then do we have a plan?" Beast Boy asked frantically.

"We do." Robin said. "We can use Cyborg's power cells to operate the time machine, go back in time, get the spell from this Azar, then come back here and use it to defeat Marth and save Terra and Jericho."

"If anyone plans to use my machine, it will be me." I said. "It is after all, MY machine, and I did propose this plan."

"Fine, as long as at least one of us goes with you it doesn't matter to me." Robin said.

"Fine. We'd better get started now. The longer we wait, the more chances Marth has to attack."

We stood outside of one of my storage units. I had just undone the genetic lock on the door and was lifting it up. In his arms, Cyborg held the three power cells we needed. The door rolled up and light spilled from the setting sun into the storage unit. A thin layer of dust covered the floor, a sign that I had not been to this place in years. I walked in, followed by the Titans and Arella. I flicked the lights on and there in the middle of the room was the time machine.

It was composed of a large metal ring standing up on its end with electric lightning rods sticking out from the sides and also toward the center. A ramp led up from the floor to the ring. Off to the side was a control panel with several buttons, switches, and handles attached on it. "That," I said, "is my time machine."

"It looks kind of stereotypical for a time machine, or any other type of interdimentional teleported." Beast Boy remarked.

"Never the less, it works." I said. "Now, I have decided that only a few of you can accompany me on this journey."

"Why not take us all?" Starfire asked.

"Because," I said as I walked over to the control panel. I opened a drawer on the side and pulled out four special wrist bands. "I only have four wrist bands."

"What are those for?" Robin asked.

"These are designed to let you travel through time. Without them, you could go no further back in time than the moment of your birth. But these wrist bands put out a distortion field around your body that alters space time and allows you to remain in any time period you desire, unless it is destroyed." I explained.

"Are we supposed to understand any of that?" Raven asked.

"No, just know that you can't go back without these and I only have four." I said.

"So, who do you think should go back with you?" Robin asked. "I might have to change your mind if needed."

"Including myself, I feel it would be best if you, Robin, go with me. As well as Raven and Arella." I said. "Since Marth is after you, it might be safer to take you into the distant past where he cannot harm you." I turned my attention to the other three. "While we are gone, you three need to hone your skills for the future confrontation with Marth."

"Why do they get a trip through time?" Beast Boy asked stubbornly.

"I have already explained. Marth wants to capture the three of them, as well as me. You are not in the same kind of danger as the rest of us are. We will be safer in the past. Besides, I do not intend this to take long. All we have to do is find Azar, get the spell, and come back."

"Well then, no time to waste." Cyborg said. He stepped past me and to the machine, power cells in hand. He knelt down next to the control panel, set the power cells down, and got to work trying to attach the two.

I placed a wrist band on my arm and tossed the rest to Robin, Raven, and Arella. "Just place it on your wrist and press the little red button." I said, lifting up my arm and demonstrating. They each did as I had shown.

"Almost done." Cyborg said. "All I had to do was connect the main power uplink with the auxiliary energy source and bypass a couple of default programs and we're good to go." He plugged a cord from the time machine into the last power cell and a dull hum of electricity came from the machine.

I walked over to the machine and started to program it for the desired era. "After I activate the machine, we will have a window of only about five minutes to go through the vortex before the cells are completely drained of power. Once we're through, the machine will automatically deactivate to prevent anyone from following us."

A familiar circle of blue energy appeared on the ground. A beam of blue energy shot up from the ground and sustained for a few second before dissipating. Standing in its place was Monk Almar.

"Monk Almar, just in time." I said. "As soon as we are through the vortex, will you take the remaining Titans back to Azarath for their training?"

"But of course, Master Slade." He replied.

I pulled the main power lever on the control panel and electricity shot around the metal ring and to the lightning rods. The electricity shot from the rods in the center and collected in the very middle of the ring. The power surged and formed a disk in the ring, swirling like still water.

I started walking up the ramp, then stopped and waited at the top. I turned back to see Raven, Arella, and Robin waiting halfway up the ramp and at the bottom respectively.

"Robin, will you be alright?" Starfire asked.

"We'll be fine, Star. When we get back, we'll finally be able to end this." he replied.

"Robin," I said, "time is of the essence. We must leave now." I turned back to the open vortex and stepped through, not knowing what awaited me on the other side.


	15. In The Past: Masked and Scath

**In the Past: Masked and Scath**

As soon as I walked through the vortex, all the surroundings changed. I was no longer in a storage unit, but on a worn dirt path that snaked its way through a forest. It was night, and a thousand stars burned in the sky. A full moon shown like a beacon, lighting the dark world.

Robin walked out of the vortex after me, followed by Raven and Arella. As soon as they stepped out, the vortex closed behind them. We were now in the past, 3000 years before any of us would exist. "Looks like it worked." Robin said. "Guess you were telling the truth, Slade."

"I tend to do that quite a lot, but for some reason people are always surprised." I replied. I saw a slight glow a little ways away down the road. Probably from some type of fire. But not a forest fire, more like the fires used by villagers. "I think I see a town or village up ahead. That should be where we go. Ask some questions, find out if we can find anyone who knows about Azar." I started walking forward. It was quiet in the forest. With no sounds of a modernized world, it was a welcome experience.

"Hey, Slade, how long are you expecting us to stay here?" Raven asked.

"As long as it takes. When we go back to our own time, we will arrive the same amount of time after we entered the portal as we spent in the past." We walked for several hours in silence. None of us really had anything to say to each other. Or at least to me.

Robin did slow down and walked next to Raven for a moment. "So, Raven, do you really trust Slade? I mean, considering what he did to you during the whole Trigon thing."

"I know what you mean, Robin, but…" She stopped. "I don't really know."

"Listen, Raven," Arella spoke up, "I know Slade better than most, you may not trust him, but I know that his is a kind person if you give him the chance."

"Are we talking about the same Slade?" Robin asked. "Because the one I'm talking about is the one that tried to destroy our city, manipulated us to betray our friends, tried to kill us, and haunted us from the grave."

"He also lead you down into Trigon's world to save me, gave us a means to fight against Trigon, and fought by our side in our time of greatest need." Raven replied. "And so far now, he has done nothing to deceive us. The enemy of our enemy is our friend."

"So who is our friend and who is our enemy? Marth or Slade?" Robin asked.

A twig snapped in the trees and I heard a rustling of leaves and branches. Someone was in the forest to our left, surveying us. I held up my hand and stopped. "Quiet. Don't move." I whispered. We stopped and waited silently. Seconds passed, then minutes. Several minutes passed by and nothing happened.

"What are we waiting for?" Raven asked. Suddenly four small whizzing objects came flying from the trees, each directed at Raven. She saw them and held up her hand. Her eyes glowed white and black energy surrounded her hand as well as the objects, stopping them.

"Shuriken." I said.

Robin pulled a birdirang from his belt and threw it toward the trees, but only a second after it left his hand, it vanished. "Huh? What happened?"

"Our weapons are not from this time line. While you hold on to them, the wristband keep them in this era. But as soon as you let go of it, it is no longer protected by the distortion field and it is instantly sent forward in time." I explained. "That means all long range weapons are useless."

"Darn it." Robin pulled his bow staff from his belt and held it ready for battle. The air was still, nothing moved. Our attacker had seemingly disappeared. Suddenly, another shuriken flew from the woods toward Robin. He deflected the small flying weapon with his bow staff and grabbed it out of the air. He then spun around and threw it back. The shuriken Robin threw zoomed through the air and back into the trees right where it had come from.

Since it was a weapon from this time line, it could be separated from us and not be forced back into our era.

A warrior raced from the forest and straight for Raven. He wore a mask over his face showing only his eyes. His entire body was clad in black except for the upper left corner of his tunic which was orange.

Be pulled a short sword which he had strapped to his back from its sheath and thrust it down at Raven. Raven moved her hands in the way and a barrier of black energy blocked the sword.

This ninja like warrior moved with lightning speed, slashing and thrusting with his sword at Raven repeatedly, each time, she blocked with her powers. The ninja delivered a powerful kick to Raven's chest and sent her sprawling on the ground. He lifted his sword and swung down toward her throat. There was a clink of metal as the sword met with Robin's bow staff. Robin had blocked the attack.

The ninja and Robin battled toe-to-toe. Metal against metal, they seemed evenly matched. Robin would swing his bow staff down at he ninja who would move with blinding speed behind Robin and stab with the sword. Robin jumped to the side and kicked the sword out of the ninja's hands.

Robin smiled and swung his staff at he ninja again. This time, the ninja jumped over the staff and kicked Robin in the face, propelling Robin close to ten feet back. He then jumped back, grabbed his sword and jumped into the trees.

Raven reached out and a beam of black energy shot from her hand right into the trees. "I got him!" she shouted. She pulled her hand back and indeed she did have something, but it wasn't the ninja. "What the? It's just a dummy!"

With blinding speed, the ninja flew down from the trees on the other side of the road, his sword aimed for Raven ready to draw blood. It would be too lat for Robin to get there and raven hadn't noticed. There was no time to react.

I ran with all the speed I could muster and slammed my elbow into the ribs of the ninja as hard as I could. I could feel a few of his ribs crack as he started rolling on the ground. His sword fell from his hands.

He got to his feet, clutching his side. He ran up to me and kicked his leg out at me. I grabbed his foot and hooked it under my arm. I then slid my foot under his other leg and knocked him to the ground. I placed my foot against his neck and pushed slightly. He looked me in the eye and stopped struggling. "Please forgive me, Master." he said.

"What are you talking about?" I asked.

"I am a Masked Warrior, and you are a Master. I had no business interfering with your affairs." he said.

I moved my foot off his neck and he got to his knees and bowed. "Why did you attack us?" I asked.

"I wasn't attacking you, Master. My target was the girl. She is clearly a Scath." He replied. "Our orders were to attack any Scath we saw on sight."

I looked at Raven and back to the boy kneeling at my feet. "Stand, Warrior." I said. He instantly got to his feet. "What is your name boy?"

"Warrior Mitsui." He answered.

"My name is Master Slade. And this is Raven, she is not a Scath. She is disguised as one for our mission." I said. "We are searching for Master Azar, can you tell us where to look?"

"You don't know? Master Azar was captured by the Scath."

"What?" I asked.

"It was the Gem, Ragirok. Master Azar gathered as many of our strongest Masters and led an attack against the Scath. But we underestimated them. Most of our forces were destroyed and Azar was captured and taken to an island prison. It is where they take all the greatest criminals and threats to the Scath empire." He explained.

"The Scath empire?" Robin asked.

Warrior Mitsui pulled a small scroll from his robes and rolled it out on the ground. It was a map of the country and all the cities and villages. Most of them now had 'X's crossed through them. "This is a map of our country. All the X's are where the Scath have come and conquered. Since Azar was captured, our numbers have decreased to less than 50 Masked, while the Scath have increased to over 2,000. Right now, they are moving on the Capital of this country. If they take it, they will have complete control of the military and they will be able to spread across the known world without pause."

"Slade, we have to help them." Arella said. "These people need our help."

"I think our mission will help them, anyway. We are searching for Azar, if we go to that island and free Azar, then we will have freed the Masked's greatest leader."

"But then there is still Ragirok. He is the Gem, he has deadly powers. It was he, by himself, who killed most of our Masters." Mitsui said.

"We'll I guess the best way to find Azar is to get captured and taken to that island. So for that, we need to know where the Capital is." I said.

"That settlement down their." Mitsui pointed to the very village that we had been walking to. "That is the Capital. If you do get captured, seek out Master Vaan. He is our spy in the Scath. It was from him that we learned where they were keeping Master Azar. I will tell the Masked Council about you and a plan is already in place to attack the Scath. Good luck, Master Slade." He bowed to me.

I returned the favor. "On your way, Warrior Mitsui." He then turned and started running down the path. "Looks like we have more work ahead of us than I thought."

"What do we do now?" Arella asked.

"Continue with our original plan. We get to that island and free Azar. And if that means causing the Scath a major problem, I'd be more than happy." I said.


	16. The Scath Invasion

**The Scath Invasion**

We continued walking toward the village, the capital of whatever country this was. As we neared, I caught sight of something in the sky. It was almost impossible to see except that as it moved, some of the stars were blocked out for a second.

"Do you see that?" I asked.

"See what?" Robin asked.

I pointed up at the sky in the direction of the object. "That, right there." I said.

Arella stepped right up next to me and squinted up at the sky. "I see it, but I can't tell what it is."

The thing hovered over where the capital was said to be. As it hovered there, we saw a bright glow come from the top of it, bright enough to block out most of the near by stars. Suddenly a great ball of fire shot from the thing in the sky and crashed into the city, causing an explosion. The light from the explosion lit the entire forest around us and the sound defended us.

"What the Hell?" Raven shouted.

"I think we're a little late. Looks like the Scath are already attacking." Robin said, just as another ball of fire crashed into the far away city.

"But I've never known the Scath to have any type of aerial weapons, certainly not in this place and time." I said.

"The fact remains that we have to get there, and time has run out." Raven said. Her eyes glowed black and she held her hands up. "Azarath Metrion Zinthos." A sphere of black energy surrounded us and a second later when it reopened we were in the middle of the destruction of the city. A thick wall of stone surrounded the city, probably built to secure the city from any advancing armies. But no city wall could protect against attacks from the air.

In the sky the thing shot another blast of fire to the ground. It smashed into a large stone building and crumbled the building in an instant. From the top of several towers, stood archers each aiming up at the thing in the sky. They shot, firing arrows by the hundreds into the air. The thing in the sky flapped its enormous wings and blew the arrows away.

"I guess, with wings and fire, it wouldn't take a rocket scientist to assume that that is a dragon." I said.

"A dragon? What's it doing here?" Robin asked.

"What dragons do. Attack things." I said.

Suddenly another blast of fire shot though the city and caught the many shacks and shops on fire. But this fire did not come from the sky, it came from the city entrance. Standing there at the gates of the city was a Scath dressed in a black robe common of all Scath. His hands were ablaze in fire. The Fire Scath.

He grabbed hold of the city gates and started to heat up. The metal started to melt. As the gates melted, an entire army of Scath came from out of the trees and the forest surrounding the city. Once the gates were gone, the Scath stormed into the city carrying various weapons; scythes, katanas, bows and arrows, spears, etc. All moving in a very military orderly manner.

The tallest building in the city, a tall tower in the center, shot arrows down toward the advancing Scath. Even as the Scath were shot down, a ball of fire from the sky and struck the tower, destroying it.

"Come on." I said. "We have to get out of here."

"We can't just let them take over like this. He have to do something." Robin exclaimed.

"We can't fight them all. We'd easily be over powered and killed. We need to hide until the time is right." I grabbed Arella's hand and pulled her along. Moving away from the advancing army. Even as we moved away, another army moved past us, the army of this country going to attack the Scath.

The two armies clashed, sword to sword, slashing and gashing at one another. As we ran, I heard the death cries from the soldiers on both sides. A head of us, the many civilians ran to some type of underground shelter. All of them hurried into a set of stairs going underground.

"That," I said, "is probably the last place we should go. The Scath will almost certainly storm the shelters and round up as many people as possible."

"To get as many new converts as possible." Raven said.

"Come on." I said. "To the outskirts." With Arella's hand in mine, I pulled her along. Robin and Raven followed close behind as we headed toward the city wall. Just as we reached the wall, a Scath dropped down from above and landed right in front of us. The Scath held a katana in his right hand and the sheath in his left.

He charged at us, screaming and swinging his sword. I pushed Arella away and stepped back as the sword sliced the air directly in front of us. The Scath then thrust his sword forward. I grabbed the blade and twisted it out of his hand.

Taking the sword by the hilt, I swung it down on him. The blade cleaved through his body going down from his shoulder and across his chest. Blood sprayed from the two halves of a man, splattering all over the ground.

I watched the body parts fall to the ground and the blood continue to ooze. Looking at the sword in my hands, blood still dripping from it, I started to feel a serge inside me. A buzz. The thrill of killing a person, I had not felt in such long time. I smiled under my mask and twirled the sword in my fingers.

I grabbed the sheath and slid the blood of the blade on the edge. Sliding the sword back into its sheath, I turned and faced Arella Raven and Robin. I saw the stunned look on their faces. Their jaws dropped, eyes widened, Arella's hand was raised to her lips.

"What are you starring at?" I asked. "This is war. There is no place for sympathy here."

"Did you have to do that? Even if you had to kill him, was it really necessary to chop a man in half?" Robin shouted.

"He was just a Scath." I replied. "This way." I said, walking along the length of the wall. As we ran, two more Scath stepped in front of us and blocked out path. Each carrying two long sickle shaped knives.

One charged at us, trusting the blades forward. I sidestepped him, drawing my new sword from its sheath. Pulling the sword up, I stabbed it down through the Scath's back and out his stomach. The coughed and gagged, blood splashing from his mouth. I yanked the sword back out and let him fall to the ground.

As the second Scath advanced, he threw one of his knives at me. The knife whisked through the air at incredible speed, I barely had time to block it with my sword before he was on me. He slashed his blade at my neck, missing only because I leaned back at the exact moment. While leaning back, I kicked my foot up and hit him right under the chin. I could hear the smashing of his teeth. I pushed myself upright, stabbing forward with the katana right through the Scath's chest.

Pulling the sword back, he fell to the ground. Blood soaked the earth from their dead bodies, although the black robes of the Scath did rather well to hide the blood.

"I have an idea of how we are can escape." I said.

"Yeah, what would that be?" Robin asked.

"Disguise. We'll hide in plain sight, disguised as Scath." I grabbed the hood of the first guy's robe and started pulling it off. Once the robe had been pulled all the way off, I tossed it to Robin.

"What should I do with this?" He asked.

"Put it on." I said, walking over to the other corpse. "We'll hide from the Scath as the Scath until the time is right."

With Robin and I disguised in Scath robes, and Raven and Arella already I proper attire, the four of us hid the whole night, masquerading as Scath foot soldiers. By sunrise the next day, the entire capital city was in ruins. The city and this country had fallen prey to the ever increasing Scath campaign.


	17. The Gem: Ragirok

**The Gem: Ragirok**

We all stood in the underground shelter. All around us, hundreds if not at least a thousand Scath each in a black hooded robe. Many of them held weapons; axes, spears, swords, almost any type of weapon. But they did not notice us. The four of us, Robin, Arella, Raven, and myself each wore a robe similar enough to the Scath to escape detection.

All the refugees from the city, everyone who had survived the attack last night, had been gathered together and brought here. Some of the Scath were muttering together about the Gem and his servant. Suddenly, the main doors slammed open and in walked two people.

The first person to walk in seemed just like an average looking Scath, but the second was strange because he did not wear the typical Scath uniform. Instead, he wore what almost appeared to be a Masked uniform. Being that it was a black jumpsuit with red armor on his chest, arms, and legs. A long black cape hung from his shoulders. His hair hung down far past shoulder length and was a deep set purple like Raven's. In the center of his forehead was a small chakra gem stone. His face, long and slender, almost feminine. On his chest, the Mark of Scath.

"That must be the Gem." I said.

"That's the Gem?" Robin asked.

"For this particular era, yes. He does share several physical traits with Raven."

These two Scath walked into the very center of the room. The Gem raised his arms into the air and began to speak. "I am sure you all know the legend, 2,500 years ago the god, Almeta, granted skills of fire, and with it the dominion of the Earth, to mortals. He did this as a test to see how mortals would use, or abuse this power.

"I am also sure you know of the one who opposed this decision. The god of fire, Trigon, chose against Almeta, fearing that his power of fire would be lost forever. Trigon rebelled against Almeta, trying to take the throne. In the end, Trigon was defeated and banished to the Plain of Elemental Fire. A place we call, Hell.

"Now, we can see that we have failed Almeta's test. Trigon was right that we, as mortals, are unfit to use something that belonged to the gods. That is what we, the Scath, are trying to correct. We will correct this mistake, by bringing Trigon to our world and giving him dominion over Earth."

"You're insane!" One of the refugees shouted. "You plan to bring Trigon to Earth? He would destroy us all!"

"You dare defy Ragirok? He is the Gem! Son of Trigon, himself. Him, and only him can bring about the purification of this planet." The Scath nearest the Gem said.

"It is true," Ragirok said, "I can bring my father to Earth for the Restoration. But only the Scath will survive Trigon summoning. That is what I'm here for now. If you will all embrace the way of Scath, then you will be spared Trigon's wrath. Do not, and you will perish."

"We will not embrace some evil cult." The same refugee retaliated. "No one here will join you." The entire gathering of people began shouting in agreement. "It is unthinkable that anyone here will leave the teachings of Almeta to join with you."

Ragirok just smiled and walked up toward this refugee. When within reach, he reached out with his right hand and grabbed the refugee by the throat. His hand started to change. His fingernails lengthened, turning an onyx black. His skin changed into reptilian scales, purple and black. Ragirok smiled a full toothed grin and flashed his eyes open. His eyes glowed a crimson red. His teeth all long and pointed fangs. "If you will not join, then you will die now." Ragirok growled in a deep demonic voice.

His clothes began to change too, merging with his body and taking the same black and purple color of the scales on his hand. His cape flapped up and became huge bat wings. From the back of his head, two long cone shaped horns grew. His face lengthened into a crocodile like jaw full of teeth ending in a hooked beak. His body contorted and transformed growing more snake like. In the end, he had transformed into a full fledged creature, a dragon. Over ten feet tall, smoke curling up from his mouth.

He held the terrified refugee in the air with one hand and snarled. With a quick snap of his jaws, the dragon grabbed hold of the poor man's head and tore it from his body. Blood sprayed from the stump of a neck. Ragirok dropped the severed head to the floor and let it roll into the crowd. A hushed silence fell over everyone.

So, that was the power of the Dragon Gem. I now understood why they were granted the name "Dragon" because they literally become a dragon. And so, the creature we saw in the sky the night before, the thing firing balls of flame down on the city was Ragirok himself.

Ragirok reverted back to his human self, wiping the blood from his mouth. "Mmmm. Has almost an iron taste to it." He said. "Now listen, you can either join me and my campaign, or you can join him."

Hesitantly at first, but one by one everyone in the shelter bowed down on their knees to Ragirok. The entire room, falling in submission of the Gem. I could see the fear on their faces, terror from the sight of a dragon that had just, literally, bitten the head off the person that opposed him.

After everyone had submitted, I pushed back my hood and revealed my mask to everyone. Using the blade of the katana, I sliced the robe down the front and let if fall away, revealing my full Masked uniform. All around, I heard gasps from the Scath. Some backed away, all of them with looks of fear on their faces.

Ragirok, however, just smiled. "A Masked master. I thought you were all dead by now." I guess one of you is still alive. Have you come to join me, too? Why don't you bow like the others?"

"I bow to no one." I replied.

"Really, you think you're that good? Well, let's just see. Viktor, come here." The Scath who had come in with him stepped to his side.

"Yes, master?"

"Do what you please to this Masked." Ragirok grinned and crossed his arms.

"As you wish, my master." This Scath, Viktor, shook the sleeves up over his hands. His hands burst into flames and a bright red Mark of Scath appeared on his forehead. The Fire Scath.

He charged with blinding speed and swung his flaming fist at my head. I leaned back as the flames zoomed passed my face. I struck my fist upwards and smashed my knuckles against the underside of his chin. He twisted through the air and crashed into the floor, leaving a small crater in his wake. The Scath muttered in astonishment. I doubt that any of them had ever seen the Fire Scath knocked around like that.

"Hm, hm, hm, hm, hm, HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA!" Ragirok laughed. "Well, isn't that interesting. You managed to cripple my strongest follower in just one blow. I am quite impressed." He walked right up to me and looked me right in the eye. "What would your name be, Masked?"

"Do you think I would give up information like that willingly?" I remarked.

"No. I wouldn't." He smiled a rather seductive smile. He traced his fingers across my chest and up to my face. "But I have ways of making you talk. Vain!" Another Scath came to his side. This Scath pushed his hood down to reveal his face, badly scarred along the right cheek to make it almost look like his vains were exposed. On the left side of his face, was the Mark of Scath branded into his flesh.

"My master?" Vain asked.

"Take him before the Oracle." Ragirok ordered.

"As you wish, master." Vain responded. "This way, if you will." He said to me and started down s long stone hallway.


	18. The Oracle

-1**The Oracle**

"Right this way." The Scath, Vain, said. He bowed slightly at the waist and held out his left hand. Then righting himself, he started walking from the room and down one of the hallways. Several Scath, including Arella and Raven followed him.

After a second or two, I fell in line behind them. My sword was resheathed, and back at m waist, my hand never leaving the hilt. Especially now, I had to be on my guard. A Scath walked up right next to me and turned his head to look at me. I saw the thin black eye piece on his face, recognizing it as Robin. "What are we doing now?" He asked.

"It's all part of my plan. Give me your communicator." I whispered back. "I need you three to stay here undercover while I'm away and we need to stay in constant communication."

Robin's hand slid out of his sleeve holding the yellow Titan's communicator. We made sure to keep our hands below waist level, so as not to attract attention. I took the communicator with my free hand and slipped it into one of my side pouches. "Do you notice that this looks just like the Scath hideout back in Jump City?" Robin asked.

"I have noticed. That's because this is the same place." It was rather interesting. This had to be the same place, but that was impossible. Jump City is on the coast of California, so that would mean that this ancient civilization had inhabited the American continent 1,000 B.C., so why haven't any artifacts aside from this very Scath building ever been found? Even ruins would remain after only 3,000 years.

And another thing, how was this Scath building even here? The Scath attacked and conquered this city in one night, but building this place would've taken over ten years at least. Probably much much longer. I walked up behind Vain. "So how did all this get here? You obviously didn't build this all in one night."

"It was already here. This was once part of the Underground complex to house and protect refugees in case of an attack, like ours. But, we've had our eye on this place for quite some time. Ragirok sent the Scath we had in the construction and renovation industry here long ago so as to steadily adapt and alter this place to our liking. The entire layout was even designed by Scath. Our agents are everywhere." Vain replied. "And that's why a single Masked like you can never hope to stop us on your own." He turned his head back and glanced back at me. "Would you like a tour? It's not everyday we get a Masked down here."

Without waiting for an answer he guided us down the winding staircase to the door with the Mark of Scath on it. After opening the door, we followed him in till we came to the four doorways. Now, truth be told, I have never gone down all of them. I've only ever seen what was at the end of one. So, he lead us to the first doorway. "This door," he started, "leads to the baptismal fount. It is were we convert new members." A bright glow came from deep within the stone hallway of the first doorway and the sound of someone screaming. "Oh, it's not baptism in water. But in fire. The converts are scorched within a lake of fire taken from the Fire Scath himself and kept burning on a surface of clear oil. The fire sears their souls with the heat from Trigon himself. To show that the process has been complete, the fire brands a Mark of Scath into your flesh somewhere on your body." He pushed his hood back, again revealing the Mark of Scath burned into his left cheek. So, this was the fate that awaited the many people who bowed to Ragirok back in the gathering room.

"I assume that it also somehow protects you when Trigon is to be brought to Earth?" I said.

"You catch on quickly." Vain replied. He stepped to the second doorway. "This hallway leads to the great meeting place were all Scath gather from time to time. It is the Great Hall."

I remember that room, it was where the giant statue of Trigon's hand sticks up out of the ground. That was the only hallway I've gone down before.

"The third hallway is the regular living quarters. That is not really anything interesting. In the last hallway is the Oracle. That is were we're going." As soon as he said that, he started down the last hallway. I followed behind him, followed in turn by a great deal of Scath along with Robin, Raven, and Arella disguised as Scath.

After walking down the fourth hallway, we came to a large circular room. In the middle of this room was a table with a purple table cloth laying on it and six sticks of incense burning at the corners. Two pillows lay on the ground, one on each side of the table. Sitting cross legged on the far side of the table was an old woman dressed in deep purple robes with beads and jewels adorning it, her face was hidden behind a vial. In front of her on the table was a bowl of water.

"Please, be seated, Masked Master." She said in a raspy voice. She lifted her hand and pointed to the pillow closed to me with her wrinkly bony finger. She had rings o her fingers and her fingernails were long and sharp.

"Yes, please sit, Masked." I felt a pair of hands place themselves on my shoulders and a face put itself right next to mine. Ragirok. He slid his hands down my arms and across my back. "The Oracle has asked you to sit." He said. He moved around in front of me and traced his fingers on my chest. I could easily tell this guy was a little too in touch with his feminine side.

I swatted his hand away and sat cross legged on the pillow, placing my sword across my legs. The old woman, the Oracle, set her hands on both sides of the water bowl and starred into it. "Scanning Fresh memories. This shouldn't take long."

Suddenly, I felt another presence in my mind. Almost like there was someone else inside my head. I tried to shake my head to clear my mind, but then I found I couldn't shake my head. I couldn't move at all. My whole body was being held in place. "Try not to move." Ragirok giggled, running his hands across my shoulders again. "The harder you try to fight her, the more damage you do to your mind."

"I find memories of someone named Arella. A woman from his past. Fights, many battles. This one has been in combat against Scath since his early years. Hm? Some of his memories are being blocked off." The Oracle said. "I can't find all of them. I'll tell you what I find. A creature. A shape-shifter stealing life force. He fought it, but neither has won yet."

"Oh, my. You have been through quite a bit. But I'm not interested in that." Ragirok addressed. "Tell me, what is his name? Where does he come from? What is he doing here?"

The Oracle looked again in the water. "His name is Slade. Master Slade, rose to the level of master at the age of 17 after killing 2000 Scath in a single raid. He is currently searching for Master Azar, and is accompanied by two Titans. Two bird Titans."

A collective gasp moved through the Scath. Ragirok's usual grinning face changed completely into a look of fear and determination. "Kill him." He said.

_What!? Kill me!? That wasn't part of the plan. I just needed them to throw me in the same prison as Azar so I could get the spell and then get out of here._ I thought. _I have to get out of here. Regroup and try again._

"Kill him?" Vain asked. "Sir, shouldn't we keep him in interrogation? He can lead us to other Masked."

"I don't care." Ragirok replied. "Kill him now."

"Very well, master." Vain reached down and grabbed took the sword right off my legs. Unsheathing is, he gripped it my the hilt and raised it up over his head. He swung his arms down, bringing the sword right down to my left shoulder. The blade fit right between my chest armor and the armor on my upper arm, slicing though the cloth and into my skin. I winced in pain as the sword cut into me, but then I heard a scream.

It came from the Oracle! She screeched and grabbed at her shoulder, gripping into her robes in pain. The same pain I felt. Because she had entered my mind, she could also feel all the pain I felt. And to her body, a sword gouging into her shoulder was more painful to her than to me. The mental and physical control she had over me broke.

As soon as her control over me broke, I kicked my left leg out and kicked the legs out from under Vain. He collapsed to the ground, clutching he shins. I then grabbed my sword and tour it from my body, blood flew from the injury. By now, more Scath were coming after me, each wielding various other weapons ranging from a simple dagger up to an axe.

I slashed, catching one in the neck. Again, I stabbed one through the stomach. Again and again I slashed and stabbed with the katana, but the Scath just kept coming. I needed another way out. I slashed at the Scath to my right and ran to the wall. I reached into my side pouch and pulled out an attach bomb. I placed it on the wall, and instead of trying to run, just braced for the explosion. If I left the bomb, it would disappear back to my own time line. So I pressed m y body up against the wall right next to the attack bomb and pressed the button on the detonator.

The room was rocked with a fiery explosion, throwing rocks, debris, and smoke in all directions. My body felt a good blunt of the explosion, my right arm now being burnt from the flames. But my uniform was undamaged, being designed to withstand such things. That didn't help me much as I staggered through the hole in the wall and ran. I ran through the living quarters, as Vain had called them, and up to the stairwell.

I kept running, but the burns to my right arm and the gash in my left arm meant I could no longer use my sword effectively. It now just dangled from my hand. I could feel my body wearing out. I was growing tired, soon I would be unable to run or even walked.

I finally made it back out of the Scath settlement, just as two more were starting to walk in. My sword slipped from my hand and clanked on the ground. "A Masked!" One of them shouted.

"Kill him!" The other one exclaimed.

"No." A third voice commanded.

I felt my legs give out from under me and I fell to the ground, catching myself on my knees. I looked over my shoulder to see who had ordered the two Scath to stop and saw none other than Vain.

"Commander Vain, why are you telling us not to kill him?" One of the Scath asked.

"Because, Ragirok himself has ordered us to capture him and take him to the island prison." Vain responded.

Huh? Wait, it was Ragirok who had ordered my execution. And he even told this guy to do it. Why was he now going against his master's orders.

"Do you two have trouble hearing? Capture the Masked and take him to the island immediately." Vain ordered.


	19. The Island

-1**The Island**

My hands were tied together and I was taken to a small wooden boat. In this boat, Vain and the other two Scath set sail out from the mainland to an island in the bay. Vain stood at the bow of the small boat, in one hand he held onto the end of the rope that tied my hands and with the other hand he gripped my katana. The waves chopped against the hull of the small boat, splashing water on my mask and against my body. Cold water, but it did help to ease the pain of the burn in my right arm. The salt also stung the gash in my left shoulder.

In the water, I saw a slate-gray triangular fin slice through the water before slipping back beneath the surface. Then another appeared, and another. At least three. Sharks. And rather big sharks at that. I watched, transfixed. They looked like they were actually following the ship, swarming like wolves around a carcass.

"I see you noticed our little friends." Vain said. "Yes, they are sharks. Special sharks that swarm the waters around our prison island. They play an important role in keeping prisoners were they belong."

"I figured as much, since this island is only about a mile from shore." I said. "I can also tell by the way the boat moves that the currents are particularly strong around here, so any attempt to swim to the mainland is futile. How do you make sure the sharks stay?"

"That's easy." Vain replied. He started walking from the bow to the stern, where the other two Scath were maintaining the rudder and sail. In one quick movement, he drew the katana from its sheath and slashed a Scath across the stomach. In that same motion, he placed the sword back into its sheath.

"GGGAAAA!" The Scath shouted in agony. He dropped the ropes for the sail and clutched at his stomach at blood flew from the wound, splattering across the deck.

Vain grabbed him by the cuff of his robes and pushed him overboard. The instant he hit the water, at least ten sharks zipped through the water toward him, their dorsal fins slicing through the surface like knives. They leapt on his body and began tearing it apart. "We make sure the sharks say around here by feeding them. Every time someone defies us, like you saw in the gathering room, or a prisoner is executed we take the body and dump it in the water around here. Thus conditioning the sharks to stay." He turned and smiled at me. "Rather in genius, isn't it?"

"If not wasteful. The ocean currents do the same job of guarding the island as the sharks do." I said.

"True, but it never hurts to instill a little fear."

"How very true." Of course, I know all about instilling fear.

The boat scrapped against sand and rocks as it reached the island. Vain jump over the side and landed easily on both feet. He tugged on the rope around my hands and pulled my over as well. He pointed up the side of the island at a small dark cave. "We are here." He pulled on the rope and led my to the cave opening.

In the cave were a set of prison bars. He grabbed them and opened them like a door. Upon opening them, he shoved my inside roughly, then slammed the prison doors behind me.

As I got up, I saw him walking away back to the small ship to sail back to the mainland. He still clutched my Katana. Damn him. I moved my shoulders around, stretching out the muscles, and walked over to the prison gate. Did he really think that these little bars would hold me, or anyone else, back here? There wasn't even a lock. Then, just as I grabbed the bars, bolts of red lightning jolted through the metal and into my body.

The jolt of red energy sent me falling back to the ground. _Well, _I thought, _That's how they intend to keep me locked up here. _Just as I got up and started to dust off, I started to notice things moving around in the shadows. I felt eyes wandering across my body. The other prisoners. I started moving, walking deeper and deeper into the shadows of the cave. If anyone tried to attack me, then it would only relieve some of my boredom.

Out from the darkness walked at least three men, each well built. The first one slammed his fist into the open palm of his other hand and smiled. "Hey, boys. Looks like we got some fresh blood here."

"What should we do with him, boss?" One of the lackeys asked.

"We show him who is boss in this prison." The boss said. He held out his hand to his lackey, who then handed him a knife.

He then came up to me and jabbed the knife at my stomach. With little movement, I spun around and got behind him. Sharply, I jabbed my fingers into the small of his back, applying just enough pressure to send him sprawling to the ground in agony. Too easy. All I did was hit a vital pressure point along the spinal column to temporarily paralyze him.

Kneeling down I picked up the knife and began sawing the ropes from my hands. After a minute, the ropes fell away and I stood up. "Now," I said, "who is the boss of this prison?"

"I guess that would be me." A voice called out. Stepping out from the darkness came a lightly built person, dressed in full black from head to toe. Almost a ninja type attire. The mask had the eyes cut out and the left side was orange.

"A Masked Master." I said.

"Same to you." He replied. "This way, Masked." He stepped back into the shadows. After a second, I followed. It took a second for my eye to adjust to the dark, but as soon as it did I found it rather easy to navigate through the caverns. After a while, We came to a great hollowed out dome with the top gone, allowing light to shine down from the outside. "This is were we shall do battle. One Master to another. No weapons, only our martial arts skills."

"As you wish." I took the knife in my hand and threw it aside, it embedded itself in the rock wall.

"Then on the count of…" he paused for a moment, then charged with incredible speed, "one!" He jumped and aimed a fist right at my face. As he swung, I back flipped and dodged his attack. I kicked with both my legs out and slammed my feet right into his shoulders, sending him flying back. As I landed back on my feet, I saw him brace against the ground with one hand before righting himself. Around the outside of the ring, other prisoners had gathered to watch.

He kicked his leg up, lifting a small rock into the air and then kicking it out at me. I grabbed the rock in midair just as I noticed him again right up next to me. He smashed his knee into my side, doubling me over. In that instant, doubled over, I kicked my leg out and knocked his feet out from under him. As he fell, he again balanced on one hand and slammed his foot in my face.

I rolled once before righting myself. Clearly, this was one some simple opponent. Truly worthy of the title Masked Master. "You are quite the fighter. Skilled, fast, and with good endurance. I haven't had a challenge in a while."

"Same back to you, especially since you seem to be hindering yourself. Why don't you open your other eye and fight at full strength?"

"I don't have another eye, it was gouged out. But if you insist, I will fight at full potential." I replied.

"Very well then, so will I." He moved at me again, throwing punch after punch. I back away with each one, blocking or deflecting every attempt. I swung my fist at him, and he spun around and grabbed my arm throwing me over his shoulder. As he did, I placed my other hand against the back of his head and face planted him in the ground.

We both got back up and dusted ourselves off. "Well done. You have proved that you are in fact a Masked and not an imposter. Sorry I treated you so roughly, I had to make sure." He said. "My I know your name?"

"A name for a name, mine for yours." I replied. "My name is Slade."

He tugged on the ties holding his mask in place, pulling them apart. He then pulled the mask off. Underneath, I was a rounded face with long black hair and black skin. A woman's face. He was actually a woman. "I am Azar."


	20. Master Azar

**Master Azar**

"I am Azar." She said. Her hair fell down from her head and past her shoulders. She had deep dark skin and full red lips. I must admit, I usually try to be prepared for almost every outcome, but this was one that I had not expected. Every story I had been told about the great founder of the Masked Order described a man, and an old man at that.

Still, I maintained my composure. "So, you are Master Azar. I must say, it is a pleasure to finally meet you." I said, bowing slightly at the waist.

"I find that a lot of guys say that when they see me for the first time." She smiled and laughed. "Stop with all the formalities, we're in a prison for heaven's sake." She placed one hand on her hips and leaned to one side. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm going to go freshen up." She then turned away and walked away, untying the bands that held her uniform on.

"Wait, Master." I said, following her. "I need to speak to you."

"Can't it wait until after my shower?" She snapped back, looking over her shoulder. Then to my surprise, with her back to me of coarse, she pulled her top off and walked deeper into the caves. She tossed her shirt back at me, which I caught and looked at stupidly.

"Shower?" I remarked.

"They do have natural waterfalls down here, you know!" Azar shouted. Now that she mentioned it, I could hear running water somewhere in this cave.

But that was beside the point. "Master Azar," I said, "I must speak with…" Just as I said that, I turned a corner in the cave and found her with her back to me and her hair tied down under a waterfall. The water cascading over her beautiful dark skin. Yes, she was nude.

There in the small of her back was a tattoo, a black circle with the black letter "A" inside it and the rest of the space in the circle was orange. A symbol almost exactly like my trademark "Slade" symbol.

"Didn't anyone ever tell you not to walk in on a woman in the shower?" She said nonchalantly, running her fingers through her hair as the water flowed over her. "Pervert."

I quickly turned around and folded my arms across my chest. Luckily, my mask hid any sort of blushing, although I could still feel the back of my neck getting warm. "My apologizes. I didn't mean to do that."

"Yeah, like that's the first time I've heard that around here." She snapped. "Every single one of those guys out there has tried walking in on me once or twice. Each time I've punched them in the face and knocked them out, but that won't work with you. By the way, did you like what you saw?"

"I'm already in a relationship, at the moment." I said.

"That's not an answer, that's trying to evade the question. I asked if you thought I was hot?" She laughed a little, and I could feel the heat still rising up my neck. "Well, I guess that's a loaded question since you have a girlfriend and all."

"I don't know if she's my girlfriend. We were once together a long time ago, but things came up."

"Then there is nothing wrong with peeping, is there?"

"We're dropping the topic." I said sternly.

"Oh, tough guy. Big strong man and all that." She said. "Let me ask you, why are you here? I gave specific orders for no one to come here and try to rescue me."

"I'm looking for something. And I believe that you might have it." I said.

"Looking for what?" Her arm reached over my shoulder, while pressing her body against mine, and she grabbed her shirt from my hand.

"A spell, actually." I replied.

"Sorry, don't think I can help you." She walked passed me, her body no longer dripping wet, but her clothes where back in place. "I've never been good with spells or magic. I'm no witch or sorceress."

"Then perhaps a spell book, do you have one of those?" I replied.

"What of it?" She asked. "Why do you need one?"

"I need a very specific spell, one designed to steal the Life Force from a Life Force thief and return it to its rightful owner." I explained.

"Well, I do have a book that my grandmother gave to me full of spells. I can't read it though, so I don't know what's written in it. Now, tell me something. Even if you get this spell book, and if you can use it, how to you plan to get off this island? You already tried the front door, it surges with Trigon's energy. Only those baptized in Trigon's fire can touch the door without being zapped." She said.

"I have my ways out." I said. I grabbed the Titans Communicator from my belt and flipped the screen up. "Slade calling the Titans,"

The screen buzzed with static and then Raven's face appeared. "What is it?" Raven asked.

"I have made contact with Master Azar. Can you find our location with the Communicator?" I asked.

"Yes, we can. But we can't get you out. The Island seems to be shielded by Dark Magic, I can't teleport in." She explained.

"That makes thing a little difficult. But not impossible." I said.

"We've found some information. Vain has just returned, and he says that two grunts captured you and took you to the island prison. Ragirok was furious and the grunts were killed right off. Ragirok then ordered Vain and the Fire Scath along with 50 of his best Scath soldiers to go to the island and capture or kill you. They just left on a Warship." Raven explained.

"This is slightly disturbing." I replied after a moments pause. "He seems almost desperate to kill me, wonder why. Has he discovered the three of you yet?"

"No. And luckily I entered your mind and blocked memories of us when you were being brain scanned by the Oracle. I couldn't let them learn about us." Raven said.

"I expected that to have been you. Have you learned anything else?"

"Not yet, if we discover anything we'll call you. You could've compromised our cover by calling us like this."

"Apologize." I blandly remarked, then closed the Communicator. "Hm." I placed the Communicator back on my belt and then set my hand on my chin to think. A sharp pain ran through my arms and I winced. The gash in my shoulder had just started to scab over, and my other arm was still burned. I needed to was up.

I stepped around the corner to the waterfall and began to undress. First removing my gloves and then my mask. Once my armor was gone, I unzipped the top part of my uniform and let if fall away, but I did not remove the bottom half. I stepped under the water and let it cool crisp healing feeling flow over my scarred and battered body.

"What you must have gone through." I heard Azar say. "You're body is completely covered in scars and burn marks."

It was true. Across my entire body were gash marks, knife wounds, not to mention the various broken bones that had knitted over the years. Terribly ugly injuries that I never let anyone see, least of all being the huge scar that cut through my right eye and made me half blind. This scar I hid by letting my black hair hang over my eye.

"But, I don't see your Mark. The one that signifies you as a Masked Master." Azar said.

"I don't know what Mark you're talking about." I remarked.

"You saw when you peeped in on me."

"I told you, that was a mistake."

"Sure. Anyway, the orange and black circle on my back with the letter in it is the mark. All Masked after they've completed their first mission as a Master have this Mark somewhere on their bodies." She explained. "For someone as skilled as you, I'm surprised that you don't have one."

"Really, I didn't know I was supposed to have one. I was never told, even after I was promoted." I replied.

"What age were you when you were promoted?" Azar asked.

"Young enough. That is beside the point, right now I need to think about an escape plan now that I know that Vain and a small army are on their way to catch me." I said.

"That thing you were talking into, what was it? And who were those people?" She asked.

"Those people are my allies, for the moment. They are on the inside of the Scath at the Capital." I stepped out from under the waterfall, whipping the water off my body with my hands before putting my shirt and armor back on. As I was about to put my mask back on, Azar stepped up and placed her hand on the side of my face. She brushed the hair out of the front of my eye.

A slight gasp escaped her lips once her eyes fell upon my scar. "How horrible." She whispered.

I brushed her hand aside and locked my mask into place as I stepped past her. "Now, Vain and the other Scath are on their way here in a battleship. There is a possibility that they may attack directly from the ship with cannon fire to try and collapse the cave and kill everyone inside. However, if they do that then this island can never be used again as a prison. No, they probably won't try to collapse the cave. So then their best chance is to storm the cave to capture me. We can probably use this to our advantage. Okay, I have a plan."

I turned back to Azar and folded my arms. "If I help you to escape from here, will you let my colleagues take a look at that spell book?"

"I'd have let you see it for the asking. I guess that means were planning a prison break?" She said, a grin creeping across her face.

"Exactly."


	21. Prison Break

**Prison Break**

I lay across the floor, pushing against the ground with one arm. On my back I had a quite heavy rock for added weight. Azar walked up next to me and crossed her arms. "One-armed push-ups with a 50lbs rock on your back. How cliché." She remarked.

"Well, usually it would be one finger push-ups." I said. "But in my current weakened state, one-armed is all I can manage." I shoved myself up and switched arms, starting my 100 push-ups with my left arm. "Does everyone here understand the plan?" I asked.

"They're more than eager. At this point, they will take any chance they can for escape. Do you think it will work?" Azar asked.

"Sure, it's actually rather simple." I replied, still doing push ups.

"Master Azar! Master Slade!" One of the prisoners shouted. "The Scath ship has arrived!" We had him stationed by the door to keep watch for the ship.

I gave a great shove against the ground and used merely the momentum to stand up, letting the rock fall away. "Okay. Time to commence operation, 'Prison Break.'"

Azar nodded. "Alright all you maggots! Get in your positions! Move it! The ship has docked!" As she shouted, the prisoners all began moving. Crouching and hiding behind various rocks and in crevices in the walls. On ledges, down narrow tunnels, anywhere they could. In a matter of one minute, the entire cave prison became empty. Leaving just Azar and me standing in the center.

I heard the creaking of iron hinges as the front gate opened and the patter of feet over rock. "You should probably find a hiding place, too." I said.

Azar grabbed her cloth mask and wrapped it around her head, letting her long braided hair hang out the back. "I'm not going anywhere." She remarked.

"Suit yourself." I raised my hands up and got myself into a fighting stance. In the darkness, I heard the sound of footsteps get closer and closer until I saw the Scath begin to appear out of the dark. The first to emerge was none other than Vain. I saw the characteristic black and purple vain marks on the side of his face. In his hand he carried my katana.

Behind him, creeping out of the dark like demons from hell came the other Scath, each one carrying a different weapon. Spears, axes, scythes, daggers, broadswords, ball and chains, anything. "We are here to capture you and deliver you to our lord and master, Ragirok." Vain said.

"Good for you." I remarked. "What do you want me to do about it?"

"You can either come quietly as a whole, or we can take you to him in pieces." Vain said.

"Are those the only choices? I was opting for, killing all of you and then stealing your ship and sailing back to Ragirok to stick his head on a spear." I replied.

"Enough has been said. You've chosen being taken back in pieces. Scath forces, attack." Vain said without emotion. The Scath behind him charged forward, swinging their weapons ready to draw blood. As the Scath drew closer, Azar glanced up to the prisoners up on the ledges and nodded.

As soon as she nodded, a barrage of rocks came falling from above. The rocks, ranging in size from the size of a baseball to huge 20lbs slabs, bombarded down on the Scath. The rocks smashed into them, disabling a few and killing more. Through the screams of pain the crunching of bones could be heard. Even the smashing of a skull for the unlucky guy hit by the 20lbs slab.

Once the rocks stopped falling, the other prisoners emerged from their hiding places and raced into the battlefield. They took the weapons from the dead and dying Scath and attack those still charging. A clash of steel and metal along with the stabbing and slashing of flesh. The Scath were more disciplined and seasoned fighters, but they had just been caught off guard and had their numbers cut in half. The fierce battle continued, while the prisoners began to cause considerable damage, they were still on the losing end.

"Shall we join in?" I said, glancing over to Azar.

"Sure, why not?" She sprinted forward with her incredible speed. Once she got in the fight, she smashed her fist in the jaw of a Scath and yanked the scythe from his hands. She proceeded to slash the sickle blade across the Scath's stomach before turning to the fight once more.

"Hm." I also ran into the fight, jumping in the air and bringing my foot down on the head of a Scath. As he went down, I struck another in the back with my fist. Right and left, I kicked, punched and basically brought down any Scath that approached me. A blast of fire shot past my head and crashed into the wall. The Fire Scath. He jumped at me and swung his flaming fist at my head. I leaned back and let the fire go past. He spun in the air and kicked his foot at my head. Again, he missed. This time, I grabbed him by the ankle and spun around, throwing him against the wall.

As I turned around, I caught sight of Vain charging at me, katana drawn. He slashed with the sword, luckily I managed to block with the armor on my arm. "I believe that sword is mine." I said. He did not reply. Instead, in one movement he pulled the sword away and kicked at my head again. Like with the Fire Scath, I grabbed his ankle and swung him towards the wall.

As he neared the wall, he spun in the air and braced with his feet, pushing himself back through the air. He swished the sword through the air at me again. His speed was incredible, at least on the same level as Azar herself, if not greater. I could barely block the sword with my forearm armor. This guy, I could tell, clearly had some Masked training. He landed easily and lightly on his feet, taking the Katana and sheathing it.

After sheathing the blade, he charged at me with amazing speed and threw a fist at my head. I managed to grabbed his fist before he could hit me. Then he swung his other fist ant my face and again I grabbed it. A small smirk came across his face and suddenly he kicked both his legs up and caught me under the chin. I lost my grip and staggered back. While I was dazed, he smashed both his fists repeatedly into my face over and over again. Finally, with one last kick, he slammed me against the ground where I blacked out.

/

I woke up much later with a major head ache. Mask in place or not, those punches still hurt. I sat up, rubbing my head and looked around. I was outside the cave lying in the beach and their was a small rowboat in the sand nearby. In the distance, the Scath ship was sailing away.

"Good. You're awake." A voice said. I turned around and saw Vain. His hood was pushed back and he hand his hands behind his back. He walked over to me. "I've been waiting for you to wake up. You don't have time to be lying around. We have things to do-"

I jumped to my feet and grabbed him by the throat. "Why would I listen to you. Where is Azar?" I growled.

Vain gasped as he brought one hand up to the top of his robe. He grabbed the cloth and pulled down, revealing a black circle with a capital letter V tattooed on his chest. The rest of the empty space in the circle was filled in orange. The same mark that was on Azar's back. The mark of a Masked Master.

I let go of his throat and he gasped for breath. "You're a Masked Master?"

"I'm a traitor." He replied. "My name was Master Vaan."

"Vaan?" That name rung a bell. "A while ago, I meet a young Masked Warrior who told me to look for you if I was ever captured. A Warrior named Mitsui."

"Mitsui?" Vain asked. He chuckled lightly and looked down at the ground. "Only Mitsui would still have faith in me."

"What do you mean?"

"I used to be Mitsui's Master. I trained him, and proposed his promotion from Apprentice to Warrior. It wasn't long after his promotion that I was given a new mission. I was to be a spy in the Scath society and report back to the Masked. Unfortunately, I was quickly discovered by Ragirok. They tortured me, torture you could not imagine." He rolled up his sleeve and revealed huge grizzly scars that reached from his wrist all they way to his elbow. Just from the look of it, I could tell it was made by a serrated and rather dull blade. "The torture, I can't even tell you how long it lasted. Felt like an eternity. But finally, I told them what they wanted to know. I told them about the attack plan and what Master Azar looked like. Ragirok made me contact the Masked and tell them a lie about the Scath's whereabouts. The Masked then made an attack plan, and fell into a trap. Almost all of our Masters were killed, Azar was captured, and the Masked was left in ruin. As payment for my loyalty to the Scath, I was made a high priest and one of Ragirok's favored few. And now, they've captures Azar again. Almost everything that Ragirok fears has been removed. That is why it's so important for you to go back and stop him."

"Why me specifically?" I asked.

"Because you are the only thing Ragirok fears. He visit's the Oracle often. During one such session, he was told a foretelling about his death and the death of his father, Trigon. The Oracle told him that his death would come when a Masked no one knew about appeared, and that this Masked would bring with him two Titans of Birds" Vain explained.

"Two Titans of Birds. Robin and Raven!" I exclaimed.

Vain nodded. He grabbed his robe by the collar and pulled it up over his head. He then handed the robe, along with the katana to me. "Take these and the rowboat back to the mainland. I ordered the other Scath to go back and leave me here, so I could kill you myself. And right now my Scath self is telling me to do so. But my Masked self is telling him to drop dead."

Vain unsheathed the katana and slashed the sword across his arm before handing the sword back to me. "I only hope that God can forgive my sins." And with that, Vain stepped forward into the surf. He walked down into the ocean letting the water wash up and over his whole body, the blood from his arm turning the water red around him.

Out in deeper water, several triangular gray fins sliced trough the sea, moving swiftly towards Vain. Vain took one last breath and pulled his entire body underwater, just as the sharks reached him. The fins all converged on his and shook back and forth, splashing the red water around.

I turned away from the carnage and looked down at the Scath Robe in my hand. The only thing left of Master Vaan. He was right, I needed to go back and kill Ragirok. If I didn't do something to save this past, then my future would never exist. I took off my battered mask and slipped the robe over my head. Once dressed in the Scath uniform, I stepped into the rowboat and shoved of back for the mainland.


	22. Confrontation

**Confrontation**

I pulled the rowboat into dock back at the mainland and tied it off. After stepping on to the dock, three Scath walked up to me. I made sure to keep my face hidden behind the hood. "Vain, did you take care of the Masked?" The front one asked. I still wore the Scath robe that Vaan had given me.

I didn't reply. Instead, I held up my battered and dented mask for them to see. They smiled. "I see, so the Masked is dead?" he asked. I nodded. "Good, Lord Ragirok will be pleased." They turned and started to walk away. I followed behind. Strapped across my back was my katana, at the ready should I need it. And I knew I would. Back into the city, newly adorned with the Mark of Scath on all the major buildings, I followed the other Scath back down into the main gathering place of the Scath.

The Underground Catacombs. Down the stairs I traveled, finally coming to the main gathering room of the Scath. The one with the Arm of Trigon reaching out of the ground. Once in there, I found all the Scath gathered around and Ragirok standing up on top in the palm of Trigon's hand. As I entered the room, the Scath divided and allowed for a walkway for me to walk up to the hand. I walked up the stairs to were Ragirok stood. "Ah, Vain." He said, stepping over to me, running his hands over my shoulders and across my back. "You carry the mask of the warrior. So, you have killed him. This pleases me. And what pleases me more, is what else we found. Some of the Masked's allies that he snuck in with." He smiled, then turned to the crowd. "Bring forth the Prisoners!" He shouted.

The crowd began to move again, and this time I heard angry shouting. "Let go of me, you sick hoods!" Robin's voice shouted. Emerging from the crowd; Robin, Raven, Arella, and Azar emerged each with their hands bound behind their backs.

"We found them hiding amongst us, disguised as our fellow Scath. I thank you for bringing Azar back to us. Now, all that mw have left to do is-" He didn't get to finish the sentence. At that moment, I pulled out my sword and stabbed it through his stomach. He stopped in surprise as soon as the steel pierced his flesh. He coughed and blood dribbled from his mouth. He looked down dumbly at the hilt of the sword now sticking out of him. "Vain, I should've know you would've betrayed me at some point."

"That would be sweet, if I were Vain." I said. I took my mask and reattached it over my face. "But, I'm not." I yanked the katana back out of his stomach and kicked him, sending him crashing to the ground down far below us. Then, using the bloody sword, I sliced the Scath robe off, once again revealing my Masked uniform.

I heard a sound of pain from the crowd below and saw Azar smack her elbow into the face of the Scath holding her. She then grabbed him by the head and threw him over her shoulder. Robin pushed back against the Scath holding him and smacked the Scath against the ground before jumping back to his feet. Raven's eyes turned back and the Scath behind her was surrounded by black energy just before being thrown against the far wall. Most amazing of all, Arella twisted around to escape the grip of her captor and smacked the side of her hand into the base of his neck, rendering him paralyzed.

I jumped down from the statue to the ground. As I did, the other Scath stepped away from me in fear. "That was easier than I thought it would be. Okay, let's get moving."

Behind me, I heard laughter. A laugh in a voice I recognized. I looked back and saw Ragirok climb to his feet, blood still oozing from the hole in his stomach. "Hehehehehehehehehehehehehe, hahahahahahahahahahaha. Clever. Stealing Vain's uniform to get close enough to me to attack. And it almost worked. I haven't seen so much of my blood at once in a while." He slid his hand over the open wound and as his hand moved over it, the injury healed completely. He then swept his arm out in front of him and the crowd all stepped several feet back, giving him room.

"Step back." I said. "I need to fight him alone."

"Wait." Raven said. Her hands glowed light blue and she placed them on my shoulders. A warm soothing sensation spread across my body, concentrating on the many injuries I had across my body and closing them up. As soon as she was done, she pulled her hands away. "There. Now you're on more even ground."

After that, she and the others all stepped away. "Okay, then. Shall we begin?" Ragirok asked, his eyes changed red and he began his transformation. His skin turned black and purple, growing into scales. His fingernails became claws. His face grew longer, into more of a crocodile like mouth ending almost in a sharp beak filled with sharp teeth. A tail sprouted from his back, and horns grew from the back of his head. Wings grew out from his back. In the end of his transformation, he stood before me as a ten foot tall dragon with smoke curling up from his nostrils.

He roared and flames came spewing from his mouth towards me. I sprinted to my right to dodge the flames, and as I ran the flames followed. I changed direction, now racing right for him. Once I got in range, I slashed at him with my sword. The katana blade simply bounced off his scales, not even leaving a scratch. Ragirok backhanded me across the face with such force that I went twisting through the air, crashing down on my right shoulder. My sword slipped from my hand and slid across the floor.

I have to admit, that hurt. His hand was as big as my head and covered with scales harder than steel, and my mask was already damaged from previous battles. As I lay there, Ragirok walked over to me, the ground shaking with each footstep. I could feel the vibrations through the ground grow stronger as he came closer. Soon he would be on top of me. Right as he came over me, I jumped up, bracing with my hands and slammed my boots in his face. He recoiled and I kicked again and again, slamming my steel toed boots into his face again and again.

As he stepped back from surprise, I got back to my feet and started patting myself down. I knew I had to have one knife left on me somewhere, I couldn't have used them all yet. I found it underneath the armor on my left shin. I gripped the handle and pulled the blade from its hiding place. I charged again, sprinting across the battleground. Ragirok slashed at me as I ran, his claws digging into the stone floor behind me. In a swift motion, I spun on my heels and jabbed the knife up, under the scales and into his chest. He roared in pain. I pushed harder on the handle, sticking the blade deeper and deeper into his body. I then twisted the handle and broke off the blade while it was still embedded in him.

Just then, I was heaved into the air. Ragirok grabbed me from behind and lifted my up over his head, then threw me back down to the ground. Slamming me into the floor with such force that the stone actually cracked. A cloud of dust and debris formed around me from the impact. I felt a sharp pain inside. My arms felt heavy and useless. My whole body hurt. As I tried to climb out of the crater in the ground, I suddenly convulsed and coughed up something warm and fluid. It spilled out from the grates in the front of my mask and I saw deep red splatter on the ground. Blood. And a considerable amount. Something deep inside had been damaged from that last attack.

A large force smashed into my stomach and sent me flying through the air again. I crashed and rolled across the floor, finally stopping when I hit the base of Trigon's arm. Ragirok had kicked me in the gut. Again I convulsed and coughed up blood. He was too strong. I couldn't fight him. As if to confirm this he said, "You can't beat me, Masked. I am the Gem of Trigon. Invincible. Mortals cower from me, the gods fear me, nothing you can do will harm me. You won't be the one to bring me down."

He was right. I was at my limit, nothing I could do would harm this guy. "Slade!" A voice called from the crowd. I looked up and saw Raven. In her hands she held open an old battered book. She reached her hand out to me and began to chant, "Azileraln turstromen himelder oreisheldir rhetx!"

Her hand glowed red along with the pages of the book and a beam of energy fired from her fingers. This beam struck me. I felt an enormous surge in strength and power fill my body. All my previous injuries healed and my strength increased five fold. The beam faded and the light disappeared. I found myself standing up again, looking right in the face of Ragirok.

Ragirok snarled and slashed his claws down at me. I braced with both my arms and took the full force of his blow. The ground beneath me cracked, but I didn't falter. I held his claws back with one arm, then took my other fist and swung it up at his face. As my fist rose, it became engulfed in red fire just as it smashed against his chin. He was sent staggering back from the impact.

He shook his head in confusion then looked back at me. The crowd of Scath had fallen silent. I looked down with shock at my hand. I clenched it again and watched as it erupted in fire again. I felt a hot serring pain on my forehead, as the Mark of Scath burned itself in place.

So that's what Raven did, that spell must have given me back the powers I had lost so that I could fight on a more even field. I grinned. Now, things would get interesting.


	23. Battle of the Gem

**Battle of the Gem**

I could feel it, the power. All this dark power surging through my body filling every vain, every cell of my being. It was like if I had injected my body with pure adrenaline mixed with crack. It almost made me giddy. I couldn't help but let out a small laugh. "he he he he he he he. Thank you, Raven." I looked up at Ragirok in the air, if he could see my face he would see that I was smiling.

I decided to test out my newly regained powers. "Ragirok!" I shouted. "Come down here and face me! If you're not afraid of my power." I stretched one arm out to the side and unleashed a torrent of flames upon the Scath standing there. Their screams echoed through the hall as their flesh burned. Such great power, like I haven't felt in a long time. I cut off the flames and rested my arm at my side.

"Nice job, Raven. You made the psychopath stronger." Robin remarked. I ignored him.

I shot up into the air, blasting fire from my feet like a rocket. In a second I was right in front of him and I slammed my fist into his face. The force of my punch reinforced my the dark flames surrounding it.

Ragirok fell spinning through the air until he crashed back into the ground, leaving a crater. He Sat back up and looked up at me, hovering in the air above him. "This is impossible. A Masked cannot gain Scath powers, it's unheard of."

I raised my hands up above my head and let the fire gather, forming a sphere of flames. With one heave I threw the ball of fire down at Ragirok. The purple dragon beneath me folded his wings across the front of his body to block the flames. The fire crashed into his wings and dissipated. He then snapped his wings open and blasted me with the wind before soaring back into the air. He again reached my level and threw a punch at my face, I blocked.

Again he kicked, punched, clawed, and snapped his jaws at me in mid air. Each time, I blocked, dodged or diverted his blows and he did the same to mine. I almost couldn't keep up with his movements. His arms and legs became a blur, but still I managed to keep up with him, all while floating in midair. Finally we both struck each other in the face and sent the other cascading across the room until we crashed into the far walls.

I dragged myself from the rubble left in my wake. My body ached. Somehow even with the power boost of Raven's spell Ragirok was still too powerful. I looked back over and saw him drag himself from the crater in the wall and glare at me. He inhaled deep and shot a stream of fire towards me. I held my hand out before me and shot my own fire back, meeting with his and exploding.

Ragirok opened his wings and jumped into the air. "I'll not be defeated my you! He flew down and grabbed Arella in his claws, holding her by the neck. "Submit, Masked, or the woman is dead!"

I glared down at them from above. I leapt down from to the ground and casually held out one hand ablaze towards them. The fire glowing red. "Slade, what are you doing?" Arella gasped.

"Ragirok must be stopped, at any cost." I said, deadpan.

"Slade, you can't." Tears began to well in her eyes. "You aren't thinking strait. Get a hold of yourself."

"My thoughts are clear, Arella." I responded.

"You would kill this woman to just to get a shot at me?" Ragirok asked.

"If I must."

"It's the Scath power," Arella said, "it must be messing with his head."

"No," Azar said, "the power of the Fire Scath only awakens latent dark thoughts and desires, it does not put them there. This is his own evil that he's been holding back until now."

"True enough. Compassion, friendship, love, I don't need these things. They only hold me back and make me weak. For a while I thought it was what made the Titans strong, but now that I have these powers again my mind is clear. My ties to you, Arella, are holding me back." I said. "Arella, I love you. You are the only person I have ever loved."

"Then why?" Tears flowed down her cheeks. "Slade, I love you, too. Why are you doing this?"

"I've just stated. My love for you will make me weak. I don't really want to, but if I must then I must." The flames grew brighter and hotter over my hand as I prepared to fire. Ragirok tightened his hold on Arella and grinned.

From behind, coming up over Ragirok's shoulder Robin leapt up and pulled back with the birdarang in his hand. Ragirok only had time for a quick glance before Robin spun around and stabbed the sharp end of the weapon in the dragon's eye. Ragirok hollered in pain, his grip on Arella released. A portal of Dark energy appeared on the floor and Raven rose up from it, grabbing Arella and pulling her away. Once Arella was safe, Robin leapt away. I then unleashed the pent up stream of fire, engulfing Ragirok completely in the flames. He cried out in pain as the fire, basically the fires of Hell, engulfed his entire body, surrounding him in a sea of flames that tore at his scales and clawed at his skin. After a full five minutes I cut of the flames and saw his burnt body lying motionless on the ground.

Raven reappeared from the ground with Arella. Both she and Robin glared angrily at me with hatred in their eyes. Raven reached out and grabbed me with her dark powers lifting me into the air. "Slade!! What the Hell is wrong with you!?" She growled.

"Was it not convincing enough? It was enough to distract Ragirok momentarily, allowing you to save her." I said.

"Are you telling me you expected us to intervene?!" Robin shouted. "How did you know that we would rescue her?"

"I didn't know, but I expected you to do something. I know you well enough." I said. "Raven, could you put me down now?"

"Answer me, was anything you said just now true? If I recall, you yourself said that you never lie. So, was anything you said before true?" Raven demanded.

Before I could answer, Raven was struck aside. A scaly clawed hand struck her across the face and sent her sprawling across the floor. Her hold on me dropped and I fell back to earth. It was Ragirok. His body was badly burned, and he looked a if he could barely stand, but he was wracked with rage now. Smoke rose from his nostrils. Robin ran to attack, taking the bow staff from his belt. He jumped and swung the staff with all his might, but Ragirok merely caught it and pulled Robin in, punching the titan in the face. Robin smashed against the ground with a bone shattering thud.

"None of you are a threat, even in my weakened state." Ragirok snarled. Suddenly, he was shoved back by a flying kick to the face. Azar smashed the heel of her foot against his head, causing the dragon to stagger. She spun around again and kicked time and again, hitting Ragirok time after time direct in the face, each time pushing the monster back.

Azar slammed her heel against him one last time before stepping back. "You still have me to deal with, Gem." She remarked. "Remember, I'm still the founder of the Masked, and a Master."

Ragirok shook his head and shot a look of utter hate back at her. Getting up to stand behind her came Robin, Raven and Arella. "Since the lot of you are so eager to join the fight, I'll give you all the fighters you could want. Scath, ATTACK!!"

Together, all the standing Scath picked up their weapons and started to move forward. Suddenly, an arrow shot down from above and struck a Scath in the chest. Then another arrow hit one in the eye. I looked up and saw a Masked Warrior standing in the ceiling opening with a bow and arrow. He pulled another arrow from the quiver on his back and fired, striking another Scath. From the ceiling, Masked Warriors, Masters and Apprentices jumped down, each brandishing weapons. The Masked had come, as Warrior Mitsui said they would and now they had joined the fight.

Weapons clashed as steel struck steel. The small Masked forces fought the much larger Scath army with vigor and determination, easily showing off their mush better training. Ragirok roared in frustration. "DAMN YOU ALL!!! WHY DON'T YOU DIE!!??"

"Not going the way you thought?" I said. "It's just you and me now." I held up my hands in a fighting pose, ready to attack. Fire erupted from my hands.

At that moment, a shadow began to spread across the room. I looked up and saw the sun. It was hidden, the moon had crossed in front and blocked the light. A Solar Eclipse. Red hieroglyphics appeared on Ragirok's skin and he smiled an evil smile. "Too late." He reverted back to human form and hovered in the air, crossing his legs.

_The Gem was Born of Evil Fire_

_The Gem shall be His Portal_

_He comes to Claim, He comes to Sire_

_The End of All thing Mortal_

Ragirok chanted. A sphere of energy appeared from his abdomen and quickly spread over his entire body. We were too late, the eclipse had happened, and now Ragirok was opening the Portal. "Slade!" Azar shouted. "Get over here!" She stood by Robin, Raven, and Arella. A small gold ring shone on her finger. The Ring of Azar. I raced over to them just as Trigon emerged from the Portal.

Trigon towered over everyone in the room, standing hundreds of feet tall. "The Earth is MINE!!!"


	24. End of the Scath

Holy Crap! I'm Alive! And so is this Fanfic!

**End of the Scath**

Trigon towered over everyone in the room, standing hundreds of feet tall. "**The Earth is MINE**!"

"Oh, crap." I groaned. I had been having difficulty with Ragirok, who was mortal. Now Ragirok was dead, but in his place was a god. An all powerful god. _Best not to hesitate._ I thought, and let the flames engulf my body. I ran as fast as I could and leapt up into the air, pulling back my right fist and concentrating all my power to that one fist.

Trigon swatted me away, like a pesky fly. The force of his backhand sent me smashing against the wall and a huge crater in my wake. I dragged myself out, but couldn't bring myself to stand. My whole body was wracked with pain. _Now what?_ I thought.

"**The Time of Mortals has ended. This world belongs to me!"** the chakra gemstone on his forehead glowed as Trigon opened his mouth and the red waves of energy flowed out. The same energy that he would use a couple thousand years from now when Raven would open the portal. The ground, the air and everything around started to change, turning dead and burning to ash. The sky became red and burned, the ground became covered in ash. The bodies of everyone, Masked and Scath alike became stone. The energy became too intense for me, I closed my eyes and turned away as I felt the extreme heat flow over me.

When I next opened my eyes, I saw the world the same it was when Trigon took over in the future. The land covered in statues that where once humans, and rivers of lava running where water once flowed.

I flexed my finger and found I could still move. The powers Raven granted me with the spell book, they had protected me from Trigon, saved me from being turned to stone like everyone else. Not that it did much good. I was the only one left. I couldn't take on Trigon alone. And now this behemoth stood before me, the only other living thing on earth.

"Azarath Metrion Zinthos!" Raven's voice shouted and a pillar of black energy shot up from the ground and slammed into Trigon, sending the evil god staggering backwards.

I crawled from the crater and looked down at the floor below me. I saw her, Raven. She had survived, too. And not just her, but Robin, Arella, and Azar as well. Of coarse, Raven also gets her powers from Trigon, so she was able to protect them. Trigon pushed back with one hand, holding Raven's powers back.

I struggled to my feet, straining to stand. Once back on my feet, I held out both hands and let lose all the fire I had. The blast of fire struck Trigon on the side of the head and he jolted to the side, roaring in surprise. He looked back at me as the smoke cleared. **"Troublesome worm."** His voice boomed. His gemstone and eyes began to glow and beams of energy shot from them at me. I braced myself, but the impact still slammed me back against the stonewall with the force of a freight train. As the dust cleared, I just couldn't stand anymore and fell from the crater in the wall to the floor below. Laying on the floor, I could hardly move anymore. Real wonder, in the past 48 hours I had been caught in an explosion, had my arm slashed with a sword, and been in so many fights it wasn't funny. Plus I haven't had anything to eat and little rest. No wonder I was so exhausted.

I groaned as I pulled my arm back. My muscles felt like needles had been stabbed through them. I heard a scream and saw as Trigon fired red beams from his eyes. The red energy ripped through the ground, leaving a trench in its wake. Raven put up a shield of black energy just as the energy beams passed over them. As the dust cleared, I saw the shield had held, but it was pushed several feet in the ground.

The black shield dissipated and Raven collapsed to the ground, holding a hand to her head. Holding that shield against Trigon's power must have drained her. **"You're power is drawn from me,"** Trigon's voice boomed,** "but I can see no connection between me and you. I must get rid of you."**

_No connection? _I thought. _Wouldn't Trigon be able to recognize his own daughter in any time? _I didn't have time to waste. Fighting the pain, I slowly got to my feet. Raising my hands, I gathered as much strength as I could and shot another blast of flames at the demon. He growled angrily as the flames struck him in the eye. Trigon sneered and lifted one hoofed foot. He was about to bring it down when I got sucked down into a black energy pit. I reemerged next to Raven, Robin, Arella, and Azar.

"Got any ideas?" Robin asked.

"Trigon is omnipresent, he's able to see everywhere. However he is not quite omnipotent, and therefore can be defeated. We need the three Rings of Azar." I said. "Those are the only way to return the earth to normal."

"These rings?" Azar asked, pulling three rings from her robe. The rings were gold with red hieroglyphs etched on the bands. "I made these a while ago with the help of my grandmother when I formed the Masked as a failsafe in case Trigon was summoned."

"Yes, those." I said. "Those can banish Trigon back to hell and restore the earth."

"Not quite." Azar said. "They get their power from the person wearing them. To banish something as strong as Trigon, we would need energy just as strong."

I sighed. "Crap." I muttered. The gem on Trigon's forehead glowed again as fire breathed down on us from his mouth. I blasted fire from my hands and the two flames collided in a fiery explosion. _That's it!_ I thought. "The chakra gemstone." I said.

"What?" Azar asked.

"The gem on his forehead, that's the access to his power. If we can get the Ring of Banishment to touch the gemstone on his head, we can use his own power to banish him." I explained.

Azar looked at the rings in her hands. "That might actually work."

"Then I'll do it." Arella said, as she pushed her hood down.

"Mom, don't. You could get hurt." Raven groaned, pushing herself up from the ground. "Slade and I will hold him off while either Robin or Azar goes in to get to the gemstone."

"I said I'll do it, so I will." Azar responded, her voice stern.

"No. This is too dangerous, it would be better if Robin or Azar did so." I said.

"Now you suddenly care about my well being, Slade? When only a second ago you were so willing to kill me yourself." She slipped her arms out of the sleeves and let the white robe fall away. Underneath she wore a tight black combat robe, with the sleeves around her ankles and wrists bound tightly. A completely form fitting ninja outfit. "Do you think I spent the last seventeen years sitting around feeling sorry for myself? I've been making myself stronger, so I wouldn't need protecting ever again. I can take care of myself. Besides that, I want revenge against that demon for corrupting one of my children. Let me banish him."

I groaned. "Fine. But wear the Ring of Protection, too. Raven, Robin, Azar and I will hold him off as best we can."

"Understood." Arella nodded.

We nodded back. The four of us; Robin, Raven, Azar and I charged a the behemoth. Trigon roared and swung his arm down at us. I leapt to the side, shooting fire from my finger tips. The flames struck the demon on the side of the head. He screamed in pain and clasped the burn spot. He glared at me and shot beams of energy from his eyes.

The beams carved through the ground. I ran ahead of them, but they were steadily catching up. Raven extended her arms, black energy glowing around her hands. The energy from her struck Trigon, shoving him aside. The demon's energy beams dissipated.

Robin ran along the length of Trigon's arm, Bo staff in hand. He shouted as he plunged the staff into the demon's eye. Trigon roared in pain and clawed at Robin, throwing the boy to the ground. As he fell, Raven shot out her hand and caught Robin before he could hit.

Azar raced up from behind, pulling shuriken from her uniform. She threw them in arches, each one catching Trigon in the back. He roared again with each attack we made.

"Arella, go!" I shouted, blasting Trigon again in the face.

The great demon screamed in agony as the flames spread across his face. Arella sprinted past me, moving with unimaginable speed. She leapt into the air and her body glowed with Raven's black energy. I saw Raven holding out her hands to her mother, eyes shining black.

She slid the ring on her finger and reached forward to Trigon. Trigon managed to just open is eyes when Arella clasped her hand across the chakra gemstone. Beams of light erupted from the gemstone and radiated through the sky.

"This is for ruining my life and everything you've ever done to me!" Arella screamed.

Trigon roared in anger and pain. **"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" **the body of the great demon began to glow a shimmering red glow and in a flash of light, disappeared completely.

Raven slowly brought Arella back down to the ground. An idea accord to me as I saw the look on Raven's face. She looked sad, almost hurt. Did Arella mean that she really had secret hatred for Raven? Arella would never admit it if confronted, but Raven owed her existence to Trigon, if nothing else, so if Arella truly meant what she said…

Raven moved slowly and delicately, slipping the Ring of Purification on her finger. She knelt and placed her hand against the charred earth. The metal band glowed with a dim haze and its energy seeped into the ground, reviving the earth. In a white rush, like the one Raven used when she defeated Trigon before, the Earth was engulfed and restored. The shadow of the moon moved away from the sun, allowing the light to pour into the room filled with Scath and Masked. The Gem, Ragirok was nowhere to be seen.

I felt a slight burning twinge on my forehead. Rubbing my fingers over it, I noticed the Mark of Scath was gone. And along with it, my powers. The Scath and Masked were at a loss for words. They had seen Trigon emerge not a second ago and were turned to stone. Only to see him forced back and the Earth restored.

Warrior Mitsui rushed up to me. "Master Slade! You did it! You defeated Trigon and Ragirok!"

"I suppose." I remarked. "Even so, we still have plenty of Scath left here to deal with."

No sooner had I said that then the ground began to shake. The trembling almost made me lose my balance. I waved my arms out to stay steady. Everyone staggered as the ground rumbled. After a few moments, the earthquake subsided. Raven looked around with a frightened look in her eyes. She held out her hands and black energy appeared under our feet, lifting us up through the hole in the ceiling.

In the distance, the ocean was pulling away. Bare sand left in its wake. "A tsunami." Robin stated. "What do we do now?"


End file.
